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Inter Milan have signed midfielder Joao Mario for £38.4 million – the most expensive fee received by a Portuguese club for a Portuguese player.
The 23-year-old’s sale to Inter Milan surpasses the fees paid by Manchester United to Sporting Lisbon for Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani. In addition, Inter Milan paying £38.4 million for Mario is also the second biggest move out of Portugal, behind the fee Monaco paid Porto for Columbian James Rodriguez.
After his terrific performances at the European Championships earlier in the summer, Mario had a number of clubs after him, with Inter Milan being the club who were able to capture the player they were after.
Inter Milan President, Erick Thohir, said: “We are delighted to have Joao Mario at Inter. He is a top player and we had been tracking him for a long time. He will further reinforce what is already a very strong squad.”
Joao Mario will go straight into the first team along with fellow midfielder Antonio Candreva, the Italy international signed from Serie A side Lazio for £18.7 million. He will most likely feature for the first time for Inter Milan against Pescara in the league on the 11th September.
The Portuguese midfielder began his professional career at Sporting Lisbon after coming through the youth system at Porto. He made 171 appearances for Sporting Lisbon in four seasons, between 2011-2016 scoring 11 goals. Including a brief loan spell at Vitoria Setubal in 2014.
Before moving to Inter Milan this summer transfer window. The 23-year-old has won the Portuguese Cup during the 2014/15 season and the Portuguese Super Cup in 2015. Both trophies won during his time at Sporting Lisbon.
After the signing of Joao Mario new manager, Frank de Boer, hopes to conclude a deal for Brazilian Gabriel Barbosa from Santos. With new owner, Zhang Jindong, in charge of the club they hope to return to Champions League football.
