The Argentine striker of Paris Saint-Germain, Mauro Icardi, the last undesirable of the Parisian workforce, will be loaned until the end of the season to Galatasaray, announced this Thursday the two clubs.

Icardi, 29, is coming off two disappointing seasons in Paris, where he arrived in the summer of 2019 – first on loan – from Inter Milan.

The player and his family were greeted by a crowd of cheering supporters on Wednesday evening at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport, 24 hours before the transfer window closed in Turkey.

Galatasaray announced in a statement that they will pay 750,000 euros out of the Argentine's 6.75 million euros annual salary.

A disappointing record

Trained at FC Barcelona, ​​Icardi had a fanfare debut at PSG to the point of being definitively enlisted in 2020 for an estimated sum of 50 million euros.

But with 38 goals in 92 games in the Paris jersey, in all competitions, and only five goals last season, the native of Rosario remained far from his performance in Paris at Inter Milan: he had scored 124 goals in 219 games. , twice winning the Serie A top scorer title.

After a 2020-21 season rotten by injuries, Icardi had made an encouraging start to the season last year, before losing the net following a family crisis, in the fall, widely spread over social networks.

Eclipsed by the Messi-Neymar-Mbappé trio

Former member of the "fantastic four" with Neymar, Kylian Mbappé and another Argentinian, Angel di Maria, Icardi has been overshadowed by the emergence of the "MNM", the Messi-Neymar-Mbappé trio.

Kept away since the start of the season by the Parisian coach Christophe Galtier, Icardi was the last tenant of the "loft" of the undesirables of PSG not to have been loaned or sold.

The Argentinian will have the task of boosting the attack of his new club: Galatasaray have won three of their first five league games but scoring only four goals, three of which by the Frenchman Bafétimbi Gomis.

Icardi will also rub shoulders with Belgian Dries Mertens in attack, who joined Turkey's most successful club a month ago from Naples.

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  • Sport

  • Soccer

  • Paris-Saint-Germain (PSG)

  • Mauro Icardi

  • Galatasaray