Contrary to some of the reports circulating in England (and from Italy on Wednesday) regarding Joao Mario’s loan to West Ham, the Hammers do not have an option to buy the Portugal midfielder in the summer, according to both Gazzetta dello Sport and Corriere dello Sport on Thursday.
The former of the two report the Hammers as paying €1.1m for the right to bring the Inter midfielder to the London Stadium temporarily, taking in charge all of the player’s wages, but the deal ‘does not provide a right of redemption’.
Corriere dello Sport have similar information about the deal (with West Ham paying €1.2m), claiming the Serie A side’s hope is that Joao Mario thrives under David Moyes (words we never thought we’d ever write), and impresses enough that clubs end up fighting for him over the summer.
Having paid just over £35m for him in the first place, Inter were hoping to be rid of the player entirely in January, but with few sides willing to gamble on a footballer who had only started 4 league games since the start of the season, a loan is all they were able to muster.
Now, it’s all up to West Ham and David Moyes to try and relaunch his career.
If they do like what Mario brings, they’ll be able to buy him in the summer. They just won’t have an easy way of doing it.
