Inter Milan captain Lautaro Martinez is showing why he has the captain’s armband with his early return to training.

This according to today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews. They note that the Argentine has made his own choice to cut his vacation short.

This summer, Martinez won the Copa America with Argentina. He was a key man for the Albiceleste, finishing the tournament as the top scorer and scoring the winning goal in the final.

Argentina’s victory in the Copa meant that Martinez was in action as late as possible with international duty. The final of the competition took place on July 14th.

As a result, Martinez will be the last player to arrive at Inter training.

The players have been filtering back into training after being granted extended vacations following the Euros and the Copa America.

Martinez’s scheduled return date was the eighth off August, next Thursday.

That would be just over a week before Inter begin their Serie A season against Genoa.

Considering that, there would be some doubt about whether Martinez could reach anything close to his best condition in time for that match.

That would not pose a problem in ordinary circumstances. Martinez could always start the match on the bench, with Mehdi Taremi’s arrival bolstering Inter’s attacking depth.

And in fact it had looked likely that Taremi was on track to start against Genoa.

The Iranian has been part of Inter’s preseason right from the start. Therefore, there would be no doubts about Taremi having enough time to prepare physically for the match against Genoa.

However, Taremi has suffered a muscle injury.

Therefore, it is uncertain whether the 32-year-old will even be available against Genoa. And starting the Serie A opener would look quite unlikely.

Inter Milan Captain Lautaro Martinez Shows Leadership With Early Return

Martinez should be back either tomorrow or Tuesday.

The 26-year-old will try and get as much training in as he can ahead of the Serie A opener against Genoa.

And as the Gazzetta notes, this is not because Inter have forced Martinez to do so.

The Argentine has made his own decision.

Martinez recognized the importance of coming back at this crucial stage.

Inter are in something of a delicate situation, also knowing that against tough opposition like Genoa they could risk getting their season off to a nightmare start.

And Martinez is Inter’s captain. He inherited the armband from Samir Handanovic last summer.

Part of being the skipper means leading by example for the team.

And that is exactly what Martinez appears to be doing this summer.