APPIANO GENTILE – Mauro Icardi reiterated his desire to achieve big things with the Nerazzurri as he took part in a live Q&A session on Inter’s official Facebook page.
"I’m an Inter fan and I want to stay here forever," he said. "When the opportunity arose for me to join Inter I said yes straight away because it’s a huge honour. I’ve said it so many times: I’m the captain of this club and I love wearing the jersey. I’m really happy in Milan and my family is too. I want to stay for a long time and reach the highest level with Inter.
"I expect a lot from the team – we have everything we need to achieve big things. The club is working very hard and wants to aim high. That’s a massive help for us. The first thing the owners told us was that they wanted to take Inter back to the top and win lots of silverware. It’s very important and gives us real confidence when you hear that."
Icardi went on to speak about the impact that Stefano Pioli has had since his arrival at the club earlier in the season.
"He’s changed the mentality of every one of us," said the striker. "The results weren’t coming and morale was low, but he gave us the motivation we needed and has shown he can deal with whatever comes our way. He’s change a lot, including our style of play, which has really helped. We work very hard during the week and you can see the results from that every weekend. Even those that aren’t playing so much are still motivated, because the coach is very good at managing the group as a whole."
The Nerazzurri captain also gave fans some insight into what’s been going on at the Suning Training Centre during the international break.
"This week has been really important to recharge our batteries," explained Icardi. "I’m absolutely fine – I just picked up a slight knock on my ankle so took it easy for a couple of days to ensure I’m at 100% for the Sampdoria clash. The boss likes to focus on the details, so it’s important to work hard during the week. It’s not been easy because we’ve had lots of players off on international duty, but they’ll all be back soon and thankfully, seeing as we play on Monday night, we have enough time to prepare properly."
A number of fans were interested to hear who Icardi’s closest friends are in the Inter dressing room.
"We all get on really well," said the Argentine. "Obviously away from football I spend the most time with my compatriots, but in the dressing room we all get on. There are lots of different nationalities in there but we have a great group here and all of us speak Italian – that’s something the boss wants. I wear the armband, but in a way I think we’re all captains."
Icardi also revealed his favourite goal for the club.
"It’s the one against Bologna from outside of the box," he admitted. "It’s important to me that I make a real contribution to the team. My biggest strength scoring goals and it’s amazing when San Siro cheers my name, but this year I’ve supplied a lot of assists too. My aim is to help the team to win.
"I’ve not scored against AC Milan yet and I hope to do so very soon because I want to perform well in the derby. I’m an Inter fan so it’s an amazing feeling when I score against Juventus too."
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