Stevan Jovetic linked with Sevilla loan move

Despite the probable arrival of Roberto Gagliardini from Atalanta at the beginning of next week, we all know that for Inter this January transfer session is going to be much more about letting players go than bringing them in. As we have heard pretty much endlessly for the last few months, the squad currently at first Frank de Boer and now Stefano Pioli's disposal is too big, with almost 30 players capable of calling themselves a first-team player, and to enable the new Head Coach to work well between now and May the club really needs to get rid of some of the deadweight in the next few weeks.

On the list of players heading out the exit door you will certainly find Stevan Jovetic, who has been offered nothing like the game-time he probably would have expected to get so far this season with a few substitute appearances and very little else. After an initial burst of promise upon his arrival in which he scored three goals in his first two matches, Jo-Jo has never given the impression to be worth the €14.5m that Inter agreed to pay Manchester City around eighteen months ago, and with a potential deal to Fiorentina falling through at the end of the summer there has been little doubt for a while that his time with the Nerazzurri is over. If people were harboring hopes of him resurrecting his career at San Siro before the explosive claims his agent made recently, suggesting that the starting XI at Inter is decided by the players and not the coach, they certainly aren't anymore.

All that's left to ascertain as far as Jovetic is concerned is which club will be taking him off Inter's hands, but in the last couple of days that question has seemingly become a lot less difficult to answer, as La Liga side Sevilla are reportedly very close to signing him on a loan deal until the end of the season. There is certainly no denying their interest in the player after the comments made by club President Pepe Castro on Tuesday - 'he's a magnificent player, we'd like to have him with us' - but it is probably going to become more than just interest soon enough with several sources reporting that a deal should be finalized in the coming days. According to Spanish paper AS, the player has reached an agreement with them regarding his wages and is happy about the prospect of moving to Spain, which means the only piece of the jigsaw still to be sorted is the agreement between the two clubs.

What seems to be the sticking point at the moment is the nature of the purchase clause that will arrive at the end of this initial six-month spell. AS believe that Sevilla would like it to be an optional buy-out clause, enabling them to make a decision on a permanent transfer based on how Jo-Jo performs between now and May, but Inter want it to be obligatory and fixed at at least €10m, thus guaranteeing that they will receive money for him at the end of the season. Alfredo Pedulla has written on Wednesday that Suning do not currently wish to give him to any team who doesn't commit to paying for a permanent transfer, and that if the Andalusian club are not willing to go along with that then other teams could attempt to take him away before the end of the window. At the moment the situation is in a phase of standby, but with both clubs keen to strike some kind of deal there's reason to believe that they will find some common ground before too long. What's almost 100% sure is that Jovetic will not play for Inter again, regardless of whether he leaves or not.