Joao Mario has confirmed he would be delighted to join Sporting CP from Inter on a permanent deal in the summer.

The midfielder re-joined his boyhood club on a season-long loan for the 2020-21 campaign and he made an excellent choice, with Sporting CP winning the Liga Nos for the first time since 2002.

Inter are keen to raise funds now by selling Joao Mario for good, and the 28-year-old would certainly be pleased to remain in his native Portugal.

“From my side I would be very happy to stay at Sporting CP,” Joao Mario told Portuguese newspaper Record today.

“Let’s see what the club decides, though.

“I honestly don’t want to get into discussing the negotiations, but I can’t see there being problems if both clubs are open to talks.

“The club have already shown they want to keep me.”

Joao Mario has made 34 appearances for Sporting CP this season, scoring two goals and providing two assists in all competitions.

Asked how his return to the club came about last summer, the midfielder explained: “I came off a difficult season in Russia (at Lokomotiv Moscow) where I got injured and the league was different to Portugal.

“I knew I wasn’t in the best physical condition and I wanted to play somewhere I could feel important, where people appreciated me.

“I did everything to come back to Sporting CP for this reason; Inter had other options but I pushed a lot for this move.

“I had to do a bit of ‘pressing’.”

Inter signed Joao Mario in a €40 million deal back in the summer of 2016, shortly after the arrival of Suning as the club’s new owners.

The midfielder never settled properly in Serie A and eventually joined West Ham United on loan in 2018, before a spell with Lokomotiv Moscow last season.

Joao Mario has no regrets about joining Inter though, adding: “It would be unthinkable for a Portuguese player who’s just won Euro 2016 to say no to a club who wants to pay €40 million.

“Many people said Inter wasn’t the ideal club for me, but I thought about the positive aspects: I’d be playing in a big league, there would be big economic benefits and I’d have learned a lot.

“I have no regrets about the decision, the final decision was mine and that’s how it’s always been.”