Chelsea

€40m-Rated Striker Admits He’s ‘Honoured’ To Be Linked With Man Utd & Liverpool

Mauro Icardi has admitted he’s honoured to be linked with a move to Liverpool, Man Utd and Chelsea but insists he’s content with life at Inter Milan

by
Transfer News Reporter
February 17, 2015

The January transfer window is now closed but that won’t stop the newspapers from speculating ahead of the summer so we’ll bring you all the news and gossip. Today, Chelsea, Liverpool and Man Utd are linked with Mauro Icardi….

Mauro Icardi has admitted he’s honoured to be linked with a move to the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea but insists he’s content with life at Inter Milan, according to reports.

Icardi joined Inter from Sampdoria in 2013 and has been enjoying an excellent campaign with the striker scoring 18 goals in his 29 appearances in all competitions so far.

The Serie A giants are desperate to tie him down to a new deal but there were reports last month suggesting that negotiations over a contract extension had broken down, with Icardi believed to be demanding a significant wage increase.

With the player in red-hot form and talks over a new deal seemingly stalling, understandably it’s led to speculation linking the Argentinean international with a move away from the San Siro and the Express claim that the likes of Liverpool, Man Utd and Chelsea have all shown an interest.

Icardi has now admitted that he’s honoured to be linked with the Premier League trio and want’s to be playing in the Champions League in order to boost his chances of being a regular for his country, but insists that he’s only focussed on winning something with Inter Milan.

“I’m not interested in rumours, what counts is winning with Inter.”

“But if the ones are real about United, Chelsea and Liverpool then I’d be honoured, because they are big clubs, but I’m already in a great team where I can win something important.”

“I would certainly like to play in the Champions League, it’s what every player wants and it would give me a boost towards wearing the shirt of Argentina.” Icardi is quoted as saying by the Express.

Some could interpret these comments as a ‘come-and-get-me-plea’ and I’m sure Liverpool, United and Chelsea will be looking on with interest ahead of the summer.

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers is likely to be on the look-out for another striker at the end of the season with Mario Balotelli struggling at Anfield, while Louis van Gaal is also expected to be in the market for a front-man as United are likely to send Radamel Falcao back to Monaco when his loan ends.

Icardi would be an excellent option for either club if they could get him at the right price but I wouldn’t discount Chelsea either, as Jose Mourinho is going to need to find a replacement for Didier Drogba in the summer and the 21-year-old would give the Blues something different up front.

However, any club who wants to try and sign Icardi will need to have deep pockets as it’s been reported that Inter would demand a fee in the region of €40m (£30m) for his signature.

That kind of money shouldn’t be too much of an issue for the English clubs but it remains to be seen whether they’ll be willing to go that high for a player who has only really started to show his potential at the highest level this season.