Former Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain centre-forward Mauro Icardi has praised Super Eagles and Galatasaray forward Victor Osimhen, Soccernet.ng reports.
Galatasaray head coach, Okan Buruk, opted to pair the duo in the club’s attack at the start of last season before the Argentine striker suffered a cruciate ligament injury in November.
Osimhen then shouldered the goalscoring responsibility at RAMS Park, leading the line as the CimBom Aslan lifted the Turkish Super Lig and League Cup titles.
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Icardi has now been appointed as the club’s captain after Fernando Muslera exited the club last season, serving the Turkish giants for 14 years.
The two-time Ligue 1 winner wants to build on last season’s success to achieve more success in Istanbul this season.
“We are starting the new season. We’re so happy. It is a great pride for me to take over the captainship band from Nando years later,” the 32-year-old said in quotes revealed by Galatasaray’s official website.
“I’ve always represented this club proudly. I tried to help my teammates. Now I am very happy to represent Galatasaray as captain.
“I’ve been training with the team for a month, and I want to support the team by going on the field as soon as possible. We have a lot of goals this season.
We’ll fight at high levels. We want to be champions again. We’ve been champions for three seasons, and we want to keep it going. I miss the whole Galatasaray community. I look forward to reuniting with them on the field.”
Dynamic Duo with Osimhen
Icardi is keen to return to the Galatasaray lineup with Osimhen to win the Turkish Super Lig for the fourth consecutive season.
“Our goal is to keep winning and catch our fourth consecutive championship. That’s always been our goal ever since I got here.
“We wanted to be the champion, to be the best in Turkey. We’ve been doing this for three seasons. We want to continue on this path. We will try to do our best in the Champions League, and we will go to the extreme point where we can.
“Unfortunately, last year, there were a few matches that Victor and I could have been on the field at the same time. They were very enjoyable, but we haven’t been able to enjoy the whole year.
“The most important thing was to be the champion and win the trophy. We want to continue this year. Apart from Victor and me, many players perform very high in training and want to take minutes.
“We’ll win with them. We’ll win together. Also, Victor became the top scorer last season. We’re playing together this year. It will be very pleasant,” the two-time Serie A Golden Boot winner concluded.
Victor Osimhen will make his much-anticipated second debut for Galatasaray this Friday when the Turkish champions face Karagümrük.