Stephan El Shaarawy has admitted that he’s surprised himself with his hot scoring form in 2012-13 so far.
The 20-year-old has been a revelation in only his second San Siro campaign and, with 14 goals, he’s Serie A’s top scorer this season.
Stephan El Shaarawy has admitted that he’s surprised himself with his hot scoring form in 2012-13 so far.
The 20-year-old has been a revelation in only his second San Siro campaign and, with 14 goals, he’s Serie A’s top scorer this season.
“It’s all a bit unexpected,” he admitted to La Stampa. “A year ago, I would never have believed that I would be Serie A top scorer now.”
El Shaarawy has developed into an untouchable in the Milan line-up and he’s also broken into the Italian national set-up.
“I have a strange surname, but I feel Italian – 100 per cent,” said the boy who was born in Italy to an Egyptian father.
“It’s nice to know that Italy are counting on me and Mario Balotelli,” he added.
“The economical crisis has helped me. A lot of youngsters have been given a chance to showcase their skills and they’ve taken advantage of that.
“We just needed some space – it makes no sense to go and buy players abroad when you already have good players at home.”
Milan have opted to sell a host of their star names in recent times, but El Shaarawy wants to become a flag bearer with the Diavolo.
“I’ve supported Milan since I was a kid and it would be great to become a bandiera,” he commented.
“However, there is nothing certain in football. If a big offer was made for me then I’d hope Milan would have the strength to keep me.”