The deal to bring Inter’s Portuguese international midfielder Joao Mario to Sporting CP is all but done, according to Italian media.
In today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, it is reported that the deal to bring the Portuguese player to the Lisbon-based club on a permanent basis has been agreed upon for a fee of €8 million.
The 28-year-old spent last season on loan with the Portuguese champions, and it was thought to be only a matter of time before a deal was done to make the move a permanent one.
Mario was a key player in Sporting’s title-winning heroics, lifting the Portuguese league title for the first time in nineteen years, and preferred staying at his boyhood club over any other destination.
With the deal agreed Inter will be pleased to have gained the transfer revenue for a player who is not in their plans going forward, as well as getting his €3 million salary off of their books.
Mario joined Inter in the summer of 2016 on the back of a successful Euros campaign, making 69 appearances and scoring four goals in all competitions for the Nerazzurri before loan spells at West Ham United and Lokomotiv Moscow and his eventual departure back to Sporting.
