Diego Milito believes his Argentinian team-mate Javier Mascherano will leave Liverpool (12/1 to win the Premier League) and join him at Inter Milan.

New Inter boss Rafael Benitez wants Mascherano to follow him from Anfield and the midfielder has yet to speak to new Liverpool chief Roy Hodgson about his future, despite the Reds boss’ attempts to contact him.

That has given Inter, who are the evens favourites with totesport to retain their Serie A title, confidence they will secure the Argentina international and Milito, for one, is sure the 26-year-old will eventually make the move to the San Siro.

“We are very excited about Mascherano joining us at Inter,” he said.

“He has made it clear he wants to be here and it’s just down to the relevant people agreeing the deal now.

“In my view we are getting the very best defensive midfield player in the world and Maradona calls him one of the three most important players in the Argentina squad along with Lionel Messi and (Carlos) Tevez. That’s how highly he is regarded.”

Milito added: “I think it’s unrealistic of Liverpool to think they can keep hold of Mascherano when they can’t even offer Champions League football and are not challenging Manchester United and Chelsea for the Premier League title.

“The boss and Mascherano have a good friendship so there were no other clubs on the cards for him after that, including Barcelona. He has wanted to join for a while but when the boss joined Inter I think that sealed the deal.”

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