Red-hot Icardi looking to make Galatasaray history

Mauro Icardi has 60 goals in 84 games for Galatasaray, an indomitable pace that justifies him leaving the big leagues for Turkey. On Wednesday evening, his side face Ekfsborg in the league phase of UEFA's second-tier competition and there is a record already looming on his horizon. He is just 10 goals short of being the most prolific foreign strker in the club's history.

At the moment, he is ahead of Milan Baros - Romania - on 61 goals and Gheorghe Hagi - Czech Republic - on 69. He, with 60, has a strong chance of taking the record in just a few hours' time, especially when the opposition he faces is smaller than his own club. Moreover, he is on form after scoring a brace in the domestic game against Antalyaspor a few days ago.

To understand the striker's flattering situation, one has to go back to September 2022, when Paris Saint-Germain allowed him to leave on loan. A year later, this agreement would be reissued in the form of a transfer for 10 million euros, a cheap price compared to the one that the Parc des Princes made Inter Milan pay for him in July 2020 - 50 kilos.

Those seasons in France took the shine off a trajectory that, in Italy, was being groundbreaking. Now, with a contract until the summer of 2026, he is set to become a legend at Galatasaray, who, after all, gambled on him at a difficult time.

 

October 22, 2024