Manchester United have been given a boost in their pursuit of Joao Mario after Inter revealed the midfielder is unhappy at the club.
Mario has been heavily linked with a January move to United and the Red Devils are even hoping to use Henrikh Mkhitaryan as a makeweight to get a deal over the line.
The Premier League giants have already encountered difficulties with Inter this season after failing to prise Ivan Perisic from San Siro in the summer but a deal for out-of-favour Mario should not be as problematic.
Mario has struggled to make any impression on new Inter head coach Luciano Spalletti and the club’s sorting director, Walter Sabatini, has conceded the Portugal international is not happy.
“Joao has some issues with the lack of playing time,” he told Sky Italia, via The Daily Mirror. “We don’t want to lose him. He is our player and we want to keep him.”
Whether that is enough to convince United to look elsewhere remains to be seen but funds will be available for Mourinho to bolster his squad in January.
Inter lavished £40m to sign Mario from Sporting in 2016 but the 24-year-old is yet to hit the heights expected in Inter colours.
He has only started four Serie A games this season and has just three goals in 41 league appearances for Inter.
