Inter eye swap deal with Manchester United for Juan Mata

Bengaluru, December 7: Manchester United have reportedly been offered Inter Milan’s Joao Mario in a straight swap deal for out of favour Juan Mata.

Italian daily Corriere dello Sport claims the Spanish playmaker has been lined up for a move to the San Siro as he prepares to enter the final six months of his deal with Manchester United.

However, the Red Devils are believed to be on the verge of exercising a one-year extension clause in his contract.

The report also adds that Jose Mourinho has snubbed Inter’s offer, despite being interested in taking his compatriot Joao Mario to Old Trafford.

The Portugal international has failed to nail down a regular spot in Luciano Spalletti’s side and is up for grabs this January and Mourinho is a fan of the Portuguese international.

Mourinho is said to be rather interested a swap deal with Inter for Mario but not offering Mata in return. Mourinho rather wants to ship out Henrikh Mkhitaryan to his former club where he won the Champions League.

The Armenian has been dropped from United’s recent matchday squads and has featured just once since a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea last month.

Mourinho is apparently looking for Mario and is eager to get him in return of Mkhitaryan who is not in his plans.

We have to wait and see how Inter reacts to Mourinho’s proposal as Mkhitaryan and Mata are totally different type of players.

Manchester United are also interested in Lazio’s Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, although the Serb is believed to favour a move to Italian champions Juventus.

Juan Mata’s career has been on the low since he made his move to Manchester United from Chelsea few years back and a move away could prove to be good for his career but the Red Devils are not willing to lose the Spaniard due to the creativity he can offer.