​Mauro Icardi has stated his intent to stay with Inter Milan for as long as possible as the club aim for Champions League qualification in the final stage of the season.





The Nerazzurri captain spoke to the club's official video channel (via ​Calciomercato) about his hopes and dreams now that he was staying at the San Siro, and insisted that he planned on staying 'forever' if the opportunity arose to do so.





Icardi came in for fierce criticism from the club's fan base earlier in the season for comments he made in his autobiography about the way Inter are supported but, after now putting those problems behind him and signing a new contract, the striker wants to stay in Milan.

He said: “I am the captain of this big club, my family and I are happy in Milan, I hope I’m going to have a long career at Inter.





“I expect a lot from this team, we have the qualities to achieve big results. The club is very organized, new owners have settled in well and that’s a good news for us because they are helping us all. They want to take Inter back to the top of Italian and European football.”





Inter have undergone a revival under manager Stefano Piolo ever since he replaced the sacked Frank de Boer in November, and the Italian giants currently sit fifth in the Serie A table, 10 points off second-placed Roma.

Inter forward Mauro Icardi: "I'm a huge fan of this club and I'm really happy in Milan so I hope to stay at Inter forever." #ForzaInter pic.twitter.com/wtTnG7Nnqd — SBOBET (@SBOBET) March 29, 2017

A late push for a Champions League qualification spot through the league is not out of the realms of possibility for Inter, and Icardi said that the club would do all it could to dine at the table of UEFA's cash-rich club tournament next term.





He continued: “Our main objective for this season is to qualify for the Champions League. I want to play at the highest levels with this team.”





Teams standing between Inter and their top three hopes are sides such as Napoli and bitter city rivals AC Milan - the latter of whom Icardi has never netted against.

The 23-year-old added that he would love to open his account against Inter's rivals before the season is out, before revealing that he loves notching goals against the runaway league leaders for the past few seasons.





He said: “I love scoring against Juventus and I would be happy to net one against AC Milan because I’ve never scored one against them.”

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