Player Profiles: Diego Milito

El Principe, Diego Milito has really carved out a name for himself in Italy in the last two seasons, and showed why he is considered one of the best forwards, and one of the most underrated, in world football at the moment. It doesn't really matter who he plays alongside, he scores goals. Whether it be Sammy Eto'o, Goran Pandev or the mecurial Mario Balotelli it's usually Milito who is at the centre of things, just as he was in Inter's win against Chelsea last week where his movement alongside that of Eto'o made it an uncomfortable night for the Chelsea back four.

But, it has been a strange path to the top for Milito, a striker that has had unquestionable quality for some time now, even if it has not always been justly recognised. Arriving in Genoa from Argentine giants Racing Club Milito became an instant hit at the Marassi hitting 33 goals in 59 matches. Genoa though were in Serie B at the time, and we then sent down to Serie C1 after alleged match fixing allegations and this hastened Milito's departure to Spain where he lined up for Real Zaragoza.

His time in Spain bore fruit, as he hit 53 goals in three seasons and took up the Captains armband as well, but when the time came to return to Genoa he could not resist and it was in the dying embers of the 2008 Summer transfer window that he completed a 13 million Euro move back to Italy.It was a real steal for Genoa, as they once again showed how good their transfer eye was, and they continue to do so today. Milito was absolutely brilliant in the Grifoni colours and finished only just behind Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the goal scoring table last year, hitting 24 goals in just 31 games in what was actually his first Serie A season. It earned him a 25 million euro move to Inter that also included Thiago Motta for the Milan based side and so far it has been a very solid investment. Big goals have never been a problem for Milito, a criticism of former Inter man Ibrahimovic, and they have been flooding in against the likes of Milan, Chelsea and Dianmo Kiev in the nights that mattered most to Inters season to date. The challenge for Milito now is for him to continue down this path and write himself in Inter folk law for years to come, before a likely return to Genoa no doubt.

Diego Milito image from Steindy images