In the past couple of days, Arsenal have been much linked by the English media to the Inter Milan midfielder João Mario.
Signed by the Italian side on a €40m deal last year, the player hasn’t been impressing as much as hoped. That’s why he would be keen on a departure soon, at least according to the claims.
Now Calcio Mercato has a story about the midfielder’s price today, and makes sure to say that he won’t be cheap in case of a permanent transfer.
Inter Milan will be looking to recover part of the money paid for him, and that’s why the minimum price to let him go would be €32.5m.
In case of a loan with an obligatory buying clause, then things would become a little bit easier. To get him now and sign him permanently at the end of the season, he would cost €28.5m. And to keep him for a year and a half and buy the midfielder in the summer of 2018, only €20.9m would be enough.
So it seems that Arsenal’s interest is not being taken very seriously in Italy, and if we think straight, they are probably right.
The Gunners may have been linked to the player when he was just another prospect at Sporting, but a failed season at Inter Milan isn’t exactly an encouraging factor to land him now.
Maybe a loan would even be a possibility, at least for a January quick fix in case of an injury in the squad. But with so many youngsters shining in Europe right now, it’s hard to believe that Arsene Wenger would go straight to the one who hasn’t been able to impress enough at the age of 24.
All this sounds harsh, but Inter Milan have a record of moving on to the next shiny thing and letting players go too easily. Sometimes they’re right, but sometimes they’re very wrong, like with Philippe Coutinho, and then edging Mateo Kovačić to the market before he eventually signed for Real Madrid.
