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Reports have emerged that Arsenal may be interested in pick-up Inter Milan’s defensive midfielder Joao Mario for a bargain price.
The Portuguese international has only been at the San Siro for 18 months, having been acquired by the Italian club from Sporting Lisbon in a £40 million deal in the summer of 2016.
Now it appears, however, that he may already be surplus to requirements at Inter, with the likes of Borja Valero and Matias Vecino ahead of him in the pecking order at the club, who currently lie second in Serie A.
Inter are ready to put Mario on the transfer list for a fee of around £26 million, which will interest Arsenal who need to strengthen their midfield, and also must start planning for life after Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez.
24-year old Mario was part of the Portuguese squad which won Euro 2016.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.