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As reported by the Daily Mail, West Ham United have confirmed that Inter Milan’s Joao Mario has joined the club on loan for the rest of the season.
Mario who will wear the number 18 shirt expressed his delight at the move, telling West Ham’s official website “I am really happy to be here. It’s a really amazing experience to join this amazing team and I am just glad to be here.”
The Portuguese international joined Inter from Sporting Lisbon in a £38 million deal 18 months ago, but struggled to make an impression during his time in Milan, and they were happy to let him leave on the loan deal.
The midfielder has already trained with his new teammates for the first time, and he could be in line to make his first start for the Hammers in this weekend’s FA Cup tie away to Wigan Athletic of League One.
Mario is West Ham’s first signing of the transfer window.
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.