Mauro Icardi says he rejected Italy and Spain for Argentina

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Argentina striker Mauro Icardi has revealed he turned down opportunities to represent Spain and Italy earlier in his career.

Icardi, who has made four appearances for Argentina at senior level, was born in Rosario, Argentina before moving to Spain’s Canary Islands as a nine-year-old.

He has been playing in Italy since joining Sampdoria at the age of 18, eventually signing for Inter in 2013, where he has made 172 appearances and scored 100 goals across all competitions.

The 25-year-old was given the choice of playing for any one of three countries, but Icardi says he always knew which nation he wanted to represent. NaijaBet.com

“Both Italy and Spain tried to call me up, but I’d only ever wanted the Albiceleste shirt,” he told Rivista Undici, as reported by Football Italia.

Icardi’s season in numbers

Only Lazio’s Ciro Immobile (24) has scored more goals in Serie A than Icardi (22) so far this season.

What’s more, Icardi has netted 0.95 league goals per 90 minutes this term – better than Juventus striker Paulo Dybala (0.91).

As illustrated by the graphic above, Icardi has contributed fewer assists and key passes per 90 minutes than the rest of Serie A’s leading scorers.

However, he has been more accurate with his shooting than all of those players, hitting the target with 68% of his efforts. NaijaBet

The Inter Milan striker was not included in Argentina’s latest squad, with La Albiceleste taking on Italy and Spain in their March friendlies.