Paris Saint Germain sporting director and former Inter manager Leonardo has discussed loanee Mauro Icardi’s current situation with the club.
“To say that I expected him to do so well now is easy, but I really did expect this from him. I have found a very helpful guy, who works a lot and who understood exactly what the objectives were and the competitions he would face in Paris,” he told Roman newspaper Corriere dello Sport.
“Mauro made himself available and is doing what he does best which is scoring goals. He is always decisive, he is a goal machine.”
He was then asked if the reigning French champions would take up their purchase option on the Argentine.
“Icardi’s future is in his hands, but we will not make a decision now: we still have a half-season ahead of us and there is time in June to discuss this. It is not a current topic.
“The loan with option to buy formula, allows us to reflect, without having to negotiate anything, but, I repeat, this is not the time of the season in which to distract ourselves.
“We are happy and he is happy that he is doing very well. He understood the moment and that his future could be at PSG: I think he is a decisive player: he is always in the right place and he is a real number nine, one who helps the team.”
He was then asked about the 26-year-old’s off-field issues that plagued his time at Inter.
“As a club we are used to dealing with some things but we have nothing bad to say about Mauro’s behaviour whilst with us. What happened at Inter stays at Inter.”
In conclusion he was asked about what he has made of Inter’s season.
“Am I surprised? Yes in terms of what they have done in the league but the Champions League is different.”
