Manchester United Reportedly Willing to Swap Juan Mata Amid Joao Mario Rumours

Manchester United are reportedly willing to send Juan Mata or Henrikh Mkhitaryan to Inter Milan if it will help them complete a deal for Nerazzurri midfielder Joao Mario.

Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport reported Inter will only consider selling the midfielder if they can recoup the full fee they paid Sporting CP for his services, which is said to be around €40 million (h/t Daily Star's Andy Wilson).

As such, it's possible Mata or Mkhitaryan, neither of whom are that highly favoured under manager Jose Mourinho, could be offered in a swap deal to lower the cost.

Each of Mata and Mkhitaryan have made 10 Premier League starts this season but are struggling to find their place in Mourinho's tactics, and the Guardian's Daniel Harris recently gave a blunt indictment of the duo:

Mario moved to the San Siro from Lisbon in the summer of 2016 and enjoyed a fruitful start to this season, although he too has found a starting spot hard to come by, coming off the bench in seven of his 11 appearances this term.

Sport Witness also cited the Corriere dello Sport report and noted an offer of between €40 million (£35.1 million) and €45 million (£39.5 million) "will seal" the transfer.

It's not difficult to envision Mourinho showing fan favourite Mata the door, considering he shipped the Spaniard off to Old Trafford in January 2014 when he was still at the Chelsea helm.

Mata, 29, looks to have fallen victim to Mourinho's change in system rather than suffering any slump in form, and the UEFA Champions League recently showed he's still a potent asset on his day:

Mkhitaryan, 28, only arrived at Old Trafford in the summer of 2016, but Portugal international Mario may be considered an upgrade on the Armenian, who has failed to meet expectations in England's top tier.

The former Borussia Dortmund and Shakhtar Donetsk talisman was recently omitted from Mourinho's squad for the seventh time in eight matches. However the boss didn't leave the reasoning behind that decision up to interpretation, via Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News:

Mario has struggled with illness on several occasions this season but is among Inter's most creative stars at his best, not to mention he has a much longer shelf life than his United counterparts at the age of 24.