West Ham have made a breakthrough in talks with Inter for the loan signing of Joao Mario, reports Gianluca Di Marzio.
The Hammers have been chasing Mario’s signature all month and have finally reached an agreement with their Italian counterparts.
David Moyes’ side will pay a loan fee excess of £1m for Mario’s services until the end of the season with an option to make the switch permanent in the summer.
Mario is deemed surplus to requirements by Inter head coach Luciano Spalletti and the arrival of Rafinha from Barcelona earlier in the week all but confirmed he has no future at the club.
Joao Mario: Of those to play 500+ minutes, only Gaston Ramirez (every 166.8 mins) is registering an assist more frequently than @joaome17 (every 182.7 minutes) in Serie A this season
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) January 24, 2018
Full player stats -- https://t.co/rl0kLjPDZz pic.twitter.com/1d1ol3oo6J
The Portugal international was reportedly unsure on a move to the London Stadium at first but is now poised to join Moyes’ side in search of regular first-team football.
Of those to play at least 500 minutes of Serie A action this season, only Gaston Ramirez (every 166.8 minutes) is registering an asisst more frequently than Mario (every 182.7 minutes).