According to reports by the Sun, London club Chelsea have upped their interest in Joao Mario, who is also eyed by Manchester United and Liverpool and are weighing up about £46m bid for the midfielder.
The Sporting Lisbon midfielder, who has grown into becoming a brilliant midfielder in Portugal since making the Sporting Lisbon senior squad in 2014 found the back of the net 6 times and made 11 assists for Sporting Lisbon last season.
Mario took his brilliant club form into this summer European nations championship in France, playing 6 games as Cristiano Ronaldo inspired Portugal went on to with the title after a surprise 1-0 victory over host nation France in the finals.
According to Mirror, since his amazing Euro’s outing, several top clubs in the premier league has been watching his situation closely, with Manchester United and Liverpool leading the long list of suitors. But latest reports indicate Chelsea have emerged as the favorites for the player especially as Manchester United are more focused on signing Paul Pogba.
If Chelsea succeeds in signing the 23-year-old midfielder, it could well mean Fabregas or Oscar will leave as I can’t see Chelsea bringing in the Portuguese and still keeping the aforementioned duo.
Joao Mario will in my opinion be an upgrade on inconsistent Oscar and Conte is to let either of Fabregas or Oscar go before bringing in Joao Mario, most Chelsea fans will most certainly choose the Brazilian for the axe.
