French giants Paris St Germain have signed Argentine striker Mauro Icardi on a permanent deal following a season-long loan at the Parc des Princes.

PSG have gone ahead with the option of signing the hotshot striker on a permanent basis that will see him stay at the club till 2024.

Italian heavyweights Inter announced the transfer on their website and thanked Icardi for donning the famous blue of the club for six years.

Icardi’s rich vein of form in the 2019-20 season might have pushed the PSG hierarchy to spend big bucks on the forward.

According to a report in ESPN, PSG reportedly agreed to pay 50 million euros up-front and seven million euros in add-ons to convert the loan deal into permanent.

Icadri scored 20 goals and provided four assists before all sport in the country was suspended in the wake of coronavirus pandemic in March.

PSG were crowned champions of Ligue 1 as they held a 12-point difference over second-placed Marseille. In 27 matches, PSG had accumulated 68 points when season was abruptly halted while Marseille, who played one extra game, had 56 points in 28 games.

The coronavirus pandemic has brought the entire world to a standstill and the sporting arena is no exception. Most of the high profile tournaments including the Tokyo Olympics 2020 stand postponed.

Even the biggest cricketing spectacle on the planet, the Indian Premier League (IPL), stands suspended indefinitely owing to the coronavirus pandemic. Recently, Bundesliga became the first high-profile sporting event to resume after a 65 day period with almost no sporting activity.

The move comes after governments are beginning to realise that the coronavirus is here to stay for quite some time and sports among other businesses will need to find a way to co-exist with it.

The virus has already infected more than 6 million people around the world while claiming over 3.6 lakh lives. There is still no sure shot treatment of the disease and social-distancing, self-isolation and maintenance of basic hand hygiene remain the only potent weapons of protecting oneself from contracting the infection.

(With inputs from IANS)