West Ham have failed in their approaches to re-sign midfielder Joao Mario from Inter Milan, according to a club insider.
ExWHUemployee, who an ultra reliable source of information on the Hammers, claimed on his personal Twitter account that despite making attempts to sign Mario, 25, he is not likely to return to the London Stadium this summer.
Unfortunately our approaches for Mario do not look like working and he is now unlikely to join ??
— ExWHUEmployee (@ExWHUEmployee) August 2, 2018
The 40-times Portugal international spent the second half of last season on loan at West Ham, appearing 14 times across all competitions.
Sky Sports Italy journalist Gianluca Di Marzio reported last month that the Irons were trying to re-sign him on loan once again, but Inter want to sell him on a permanent deal while demanding £26.7million.
OPINION
West Ham have been super-busy this summer but they are not finished yet in their bid to improve Manuel Pellegrini’s team and clearly felt that Mario had unfinished business at the London Stadium. While some fans liked the look of the attacking midfielder last season, he is simply not what Pellegrini needs between now and the transfer deadline next week. The Hammers only really need to sign a defensive midfielder and a centre-forward to round off what has been a superb summer for the club. They have good attacking midfield options already having signed up Felipe Anderson and Mario would more than likely just be a squad player if he was to join. Inter have been pretty stubborn to and will only allow him to leave on a permanent basis. He is not worth the £26.7million that is being demanded, so this is not really that much of a blow for West Ham.