OMNISPORT

Mauro Icardi says he "loves" playing for Inter and is hopeful of bringing silverware back to San Siro.

The Argentina international has enjoyed another phenomenal season with Inter, scoring 20 Serie A goals as his side chase a European place heading into the final weeks of the season.

Captain Icardi, who joined the club from Sampdoria in 2013, is looking to continue his career with the Nerazzurri and secure future success.

"I'm an Inter fan and I want to stay here forever," the 24-year-old told fans on Inter's Facebook page. "When the opportunity arose for me to join Inter, I said yes straight away because it is a huge honour.

"I've said it so many times: I'm the captain of the club and I love wearing the jersey. I'm really happy in Milan and my family is, too.

"I want to stay for a long time and reach the highest level with Inter. I expect a lot from the team – we have everything we need to achieve big things. The club is working very hard and wants to aim high. That's a massive help for us.

"The first thing the owners told us was that they wanted to take Inter back to the top and win lots of silverware. It's very important and gives us real confidence when you hear that."

Inter are fifth in the table with nine games remaining, having seen Stefano Pioli turn their campaign around after replacing Frank de Boer, and Icardi has credited the coach with the team's fine form.

"[Pioli] has changed the mentality of every one of us," he added. "The results weren't coming and morale was low, but he gave us the motivation we needed and has shown he can deal with whatever comes our way.

"He's changed a lot, including our style of play, which has really helped. We work very hard during the week and you can see the results from that every weekend.

"Even those that aren't playing so much are still motivated, because the coach is very good at managing the group as a whole."