MAURO Icardi is one of the hottest talents in Italy right now.

The 23-year-old Inter Milan forward was top scorer in Serie A in 2014/15 with 22 goals, writes SIMON CARTER.

Last season he was fourth highest with 16 and he is currently joint top with six goals in his first eight league appearances of 2016/17.

It would have been seven goals had he not missed a penalty at the weekend - which, due to his comments in his autobiography criticising a member of the Inter Ultras fan group, was cheered by some supporters who have now turned against him.

Icardi has just signed a new contract at the San Siro which will pay him a reported £5m a year and contains a massive £99m buy out clause - which can only be activated by non-Italian clubs.

He had previously been linked with Europe’s elite - the likes of Paris St Germain, Juventus, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and Atletico Madrid.

But whether Saints fans will see much of the Argentinian this Thursday is open to question.

Inter boss Frank de Boer has yet to start Icardi in the Europa League campaign this term.

Instead, he has been limited to two substitute appearances of about 20 minutes each in the losses to Hapoel Be’er Sheva and Sparta Prague.

The Daily Echo has previously reported how de Boer has left around £100m worth of signings out of his 25-man Europa League squad.

Brazilian striker Gabriel Barbosa and midfield star Joao Mario, who joined Inter towards the end of the transfer window for a combined 70 million Euros, were left off the list and so cannot feature in the group stages.

Barbosa is considered am exciting talent, having been tracked by the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United.

He was part of the Brazil squad which won the gold medal at the Rio Olympics.

Mario - who scored Inter’s goal in Sunday’s 2-1 home Serie A loss to Cagliari - was part of the Portugal squad that won Euro 2016, Inter’s two big summer signings from the previous season, €31m French midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia and former Manchester City striker Stevan Jovetic, have also been left out.

Between them, that quartet cost almost as much as Saints paid for their entire squad.

Inter left them out because they were in danger of breaching the Financial Fair Play rules in European competitions imposed by UEFA.

If the four players were in their squad, the 2010 Champions League winners would run the risk of a substantial fine and potentially a transfer ban.

Yet, obviously, there is still so much quality available to de Boer for Saints’ visit.

Icardi, who has scored 58 goals in 111 appearances for Inter since making his debut in 2013, is the stand-out name.

De Boer can also call on current Italian internationals Antonio Candreva, who cost €22m in the summer, and Eder as well as Argentinian midfielder Ever Banega.

Croatian star Ivan Perisic, an €18m signing from Wolfsburg in 2015, is also available and so is striker Rodrigo Palacio, 34, who was fourth highest Serie A scorer in 2013/14 with 17 goals.