Having had a history for recovering players shot of confidence and form, Inter manager Luciano Spalletti may just have found his next project in Joao Mario a report from FCInterNews.it suggests.

After some ill-advised comments about the club over the summer, the midfielder seemed destined to depart during the summer window. Despite plenty interest, no move came to fruition and eyes suddenly turned to the next available slot where he can be moved on, the January transfer window.

However, in last night’s 3-0 win over Lazio Spalletti sprung somewhat of a surprise by deploying the Portuguese. Joao Mario, who arrived at the club in 2016 as one of Suning’s first signings, repaid the confidence shown in him by Spalletti by putting in a solid performance especially for someone that had seen a complete lack of first team action in recent months.

The 25-year-old could almost be like a new signing of sorts to Spalletti who has perhaps most famously turned an inconsistent Marcelo Brozovic in to a world-beating one in past months.