Icardi Enjoying Personal Success Despite Poor Inter Campaign

Inter Milan have become one of those sides in recent years to have endured an incredible fall from grace.

Along with San Siro rivals AC Milan, they are dwindling of late, despite such a rich club history both domestically in Italy and in European competition.

A host of managers have been brought in to try and overturn the Nerazzurri's form and fortunes, but sadly to no avail. Those have included the likes of Frank de Boer, Roberto Mancini and Walter Mazzarri since 2013. Portuguese tactician and current Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho guided Inter to the pinnacle in 2010 with a historic treble triumph.

Success in the Champions League – where Inter beat Bayern Munich in the final – as well as Serie A and the Coppa Italia, saw them reign supreme. But it has been a turbulent spell for the club ever since reaching those dizzy heights, with very few positives standing out domestically.

One shining light during a bleak time in Milan, though, is the maintained clinical form of reliant frontman and club captain Mauro Icardi. The Argentine attacker has been constantly – and bizarrely – overlooked for international duties by his South American country.

He is priced at 6/1 in the Serie A betting to finish as top scorer this season once again. At club level, Icardi has been rampant with each passing season and is evidently one of the top strikers in world football during the current climate.

At just 24 years of age, he has a huge responsibility on his shoulders at the San Siro, having been handed the captain's armband prior to the 2015/16 campaign.

The forward replaced former skipper Andrea Ranocchia, who had lost his role after a poor season before that. Icardi, who arrived for around £7 million from Sampdoria back in 2013, has become Inter's key man in attack, winning the Capocannoniere for the 2014/15 term.

The South American attacker has continued to impress in the Inter frontline and has already surpassed his best scoring tally for a season at the San Siro this campaign. With 26 strikes recorded after week 35 in Italy's top flight, he is proving his worth as one of Europe's best finishers.
Icardi must be admired for his commitment, too. Despite fresh criticism over his leadership qualities as captain and a worrying fallout with fans over a dispute with the club's ultras, he has remained grounded and loyal to the Nerazzurri cause.

In spite of his club continuing to suffer shock results at the hands of teams they should be easily seeing off in Serie A, Icardi is enjoying much personal success. The in-form forward is the runaway top scorer in his own side domestically with 24 league goals, while the closest to him is Ivan Perisic, on ten successful attempts.

Such a statistic proves that Inter must do all they can to strengthen their ranks in the coming months in order to take the pressure and goalscoring burden off of Icardi. The summer transfer window should be a busy period for Italian manager Stefano Pioli.

The 51-year-old is the latest coach to arrive on the scene and will hope to oversee a change in fortunes at the San Siro. But if he is to achieve such a feat, he will need to rebuild his ranks in the summer and focus his team around clinical captain Icardi.