Joao Mario has discussed his summer move to Inter, revealing it 'was the best choice' after 'he wanted something different' from his native Portugal.
The former Sporting CP player also told the Press that he was learning Italian, although 'speaking is harder than understanding'.
"The hardest thing is the language that is very different from Portuguese," the midfielder told Mediaset Premium. "Now I understand almost everything but it is not easy to speak, I'm taking lessons.
Joao Mario has discussed his summer move to Inter, revealing it 'was the best choice' after 'he wanted something different' from his native Portugal.
The former Sporting CP player also told the Press that he was learning Italian, although 'speaking is harder than understanding'.
"The hardest thing is the language that is very different from Portuguese," the midfielder told Mediaset Premium. "Now I understand almost everything but it is not easy to speak, I'm taking lessons.
"I thought a lot about the choice to come here and I'm sure it was the best one for me, because when I was in Portugal I wanted to find something different.
"There, I had done all I could do and now it's time to be happy and help the club to achieve great results."
The 23-year-old was then asked about his relationship with Frank de Boer, who was fired after 14 games in charge.
"The whole team had problems, in these situations the Coach pays the price but I did not think it was just his fault.
"I liked working with him, he is a nice person and he treated me well, but I will not talk about these things because they are now in the past.
"Now we have to think about the future and the solutions to be put into practice in order to improve."
What does Joao Mario think about salvaging a Champions League finish this term?
"Certainly, mathematically we are still in the race. We have a good team, good players, we have to start winning to be able to get to the third or second place."
And Sunday's derby with Milan?
"We hope to win, but 1-0 would be a perfect result for us."