It could be bad news for Arsenal as Inter Milan’s director Walter Sabatini has confirmed that João Mario could leave in January amid links with Manchester United and Valencia.

Sabatini has revealed that Mario could leave Inter in January after failing to bed in since his move from Sporting in 2016.

“We didn’t receive concrete offers, but we know that João Mario has the World Cup and wants to play more. We’ll see what we’ll do now in January, we’ll meet in the next few days to decide it,” Sabatini told O Jogo.

“It would be a very intelligent transfer from (Valencia’s) part, even because we’ve been doing many deals with Valencia, we’ve got great relations.”

While Valencia were mentioned as a possible destination by Inter’s director, Manchester United are the main club the Italian press claim the 24-year-old is close to a move to.

Since November, Arsenal haven’t been mentioned.

While this is bad news on the surface since we might need an attacking midfielder if Mesut Ozil does leave in January, considering that Mario has flopped at Inter doesn’t make him seem like the most appealing acquisition.

Last season, the Portugal international made 22 Serie A starts, scoring three goals and providing five assists. This term, he’s made just four starts and has failed to score despite racking up five assists.

Considering Mario signed for Inter from Sporting for a reported €40m (£35m) plus €5m (£4.4m) in add-ons and has only been in Italy for 18 months, I can’t imagine he would be cheap. However, since Sabatini made it pretty clear that Inter are open to letting him leave in January, this suggests that a reasonable deal could probably be struck.

Transfermarkt currently values the 24-year-old at €30m.