Inter Milan midfielder Joao Mario has reportedly emerged as a transfer target for Manchester United.

Last month, it was claimed that Inter were prepared to sell the Portuguese international during the January window after failing to impress during his time in Italy.

Inter have also been linked with a swap deal involving United midfielder Juan Mata but according to Corriere dello Sport, Jose Mourinho sees the player as a replacement for Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

After leaving the Armenian playmaker out of his 18-man group for Wednesday's game with Bournemouth, Mourinho suggested that the midfielder was not deserving of a place in his first-team squad.

Mkhitaryan provided five assists during the opening weeks of the season, but the former Borussia Dortmund man has only played 19 minutes of football for United since the first weekend in November.

Mario has been in a similar predicament at San Siro, with just four starts coming in Serie A this season.