07/03/2020 - 15:26
- Clarín.com
- sports
The anticipated outcome of the French League as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic left Paris Saint-Germain champion, but without activity for long months until the European Champions League was restarted in August. At this time, rumors about the possible return of Mauro Icardi to Serie A (the interest of Juventus and Napoli were discussed). However, the striker decided to stay in the French capital and remarked that he had never thought of leaving.
"I'm not leaving, I feel good in Paris. I returned to Italy during the holidays and I was quarantined there. I'm close, an hour away by plane. We decide everything in the family, we think of the best for everyone and now we are in Paris. It was not difficult to decide, ”explained the Rosario in an interview with the newspaper Le Parisien .
Icardi had arrived at PSG in September 2019 on loan from Inter for a season and with a purchase option of 70 million euros. Days ago, the French multi-champion reached an agreement with the Italian club to keep the player's file in exchange for 50 million euros.
“When I arrived from Italy to Paris, my decision was final. The option to buy could only be activated this season, but for me everything had been decided last season, ”said the footballer, who in these months played 31 games with the shirt of his new team and scored 20 goals.
At the French club, Icardi must share the bill with important figures such as Neymar, Kylian Mbappé and Ángel Di María, with whom he said he felt "very good". “From my first training we had a good feeling. They helped me to integrate into the team, to get used to the small habits of the group.
The former Sampdoria player disagreed that he and his three teammates are called "the fantastic four", as the French press usually mentions. "I do not agree with this nickname because it only concerns four players in a team of eleven and more with the substitutes. Soccer is a collective game. We help each other to be successful and lead the team to success, "he said.
Beyond his good numbers in his first season in France, Icardi had to be substitutes in several games because the center-forward position was occupied by the Uruguayan Edinson Cavani, PSG idol, who decided not to renew his contract that expired June 30.
When asked about the difficulty that coach Thomas Tuchel could have had to communicate that he would be a substitute, the attacker joked: "That's what they pay him for!" He added: "If he judges that a player is better for a particular match, it is his choice and the one I have to respect."
In addition, the soccer player considered positive that his wife, Wanda Nara, was a public figure. “We manage our social image together. It is very good for us that she is famous, ”he explained, although he ruled out any comparison with David Beckham and his partner, designer and former singer Victoria Adams. "They are on another level," he concluded.
