Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has already signed N’Golo Kante from Leicester City. Another player on the wishlist of the Italian manager has been Joao Mario from Sporting Lisbon.
However according to reports from Telegraph, the Portuguese international is expected to snub a move to Chelsea in favor of Inter Milan. Mario had a breakthrough season at Sporting and at Euro 2016 garnering interest from several big clubs across Europe. However Inter Milan seems to be favorite to sign the player now given a complex deal.
Inter’s majority shareholder Zhang Jingdong is also the owner of Chinese Super League club Jangsu Suning. According to the report, Mario will sign with Suning and will be loaned to Inter Milan next season. The CSL clubs’ offers are extremely lucrative for any player and also given that breaking into Inter’s first team will be significantly easier than Chelsea, it is understood why the Portuguese star will go to Italy.