Exclusive: Inter tell West Ham Joao Mario price tag as Hammers put talks on hold
- Kaustubh Pandey(@Kaus_Pandey17)
The 25-year-old Joao Mario had fallen out of favor at Inter before he joined West Ham on loan in the January transfer window. Since having been loaned out to the London based side, Joao Mario has appeared eight times in the Premier League and has not lived upto the expectations so far, scoring once and assisting once.
CalcioMercato's Fabrizio Romano understands that the nerazzurri want to sell the Portuguese midfielder and demand a 28 million euros fee for his permanent signature.
The Hammers are told to be stalling on any talks over a permanent move and they don't feel that he is worth the asking price. Inter want to sell him for that fee to avoid a loss on the player that they signed from Sporting Lisbon for a 40 million euros fee.
They feel that if Joao Mario does well in the World Cup, he will be well worth the fee and it would become easy for them to sell the player. One idea that they have is a swap deal involving Joao Mario and Roma's Kevin Strootman, but it is very far-fetched, as of now.