OCT 15, 2017
Gets all three goals
as Inter beat city
rivals Milan 3-2.MAR 18, 2018
Scores four goals,
including a 14-
minute hat-trick,
against his former
club, Sampdoria,
as Inter win 5-0 at
Stadio Luigi Ferraris.SEP 18, 2018
Plays his first
game in the UEFA
Champions League
and scores in a
2-1 win against
Tottenham Hotspur.NOV 20, 2018
Scores his first
senior international
goal in a 2-0 win at
home to Mexico.FEB 14, 2019
Refuses to play in a
Europa League game
against Rapid Vienna
after being stripped
of the Inter captaincy
the day before.suggest that he was like a husband telling
his wife that he loved her, even though he
could have betrayed her with other more
beautiful women.
Coming right on the eve of a Serie
A game away to Cagliari, Icardi’s letter
may also have seemed a tad “polemical”
to the club. Likewise, Inter hardly
appreciated tweets from Nara, in which
she claimed that coach Luciano Spalletti
was pouring “petrol on the fire” with
remarks which appeared to criticise
her husband/client.
France Football magazine has decided
that Icardi is merely a puppet in the
hands of his wife who controls him
“like an American soldier manoeuvres
a drone”. Wanda told Gente magazine
back in Argentina that she is leading a
“revolution in a male-chauvinist world”.
Both affirmations could well be
correct. Yet cynical football wisdom
would suggest that, come next June,
Inter and Icardi are destined to go
their separate ways.indeed the performances of his team-
mates, then reaction has been much
more critical.
Contract negotiations have not proved
straightforward, largely because Nara
has not been shy about arguing her
husband’s cause. For instance, she told
Spanish daily AS in January: “We are a
long way from agreeing a new contract.
We haven’t yet received a satisfactory
offer from Inter. Then, there are a lot of
big clubs which would like to sign Mauro.”
Currently on an after-tax €5.3m salary,
Icardi has reportedly asked, via his wife,
for as much as €9m. Inter, for their part,
do not seem to appreciate the public
nature of this negotiation. First, the
club fined their captain €100,000 after
he had returned late to Milan after the
post-Christmas break; more importantly
they took the captain’s armband
from him on the eve of a Europa League
game against Rapid Vienna.
After that, Icardi did not play for
the side, ostensibly because of a knee
problem but more probably because of
tensions both in the dressing room and
with the club.
And that is where Nara enters again.
On one of her TV appearances, in early
February, she made seemingly critical
noises about unnamed Inter players.
Asked about her husband’s contract,
she replied: “Look, if you give me a
choice between a new contract and the
purchase of a new player, someone who
can lay on five good through balls, then
maybe I would opt for the latter, a helping
hand for Mauro”.
Those words, inevitably, prompted a
media storm.
Former England and Milan coach
Fabio Capello said Icardi should distance
himself from his wife’s words, in a sense
apologise to his team-mates. Ex Milan
and Italy defender Alessandro Costacurta
was more outspoken, saying: “I would tell
my wife that she cannot say things like
that about my team-mates, otherwise
I would put her out of the house.”
Costacurta’s hardly politically correct
view was shared by his former Italy team-
mate Giancarlo Marocchi who said: “It’s
important that Wanda keep out of the
Inter dressing room, metaphorically
speaking of course.”
So where will this story go? When
the Icardis turned up to sit pitchside
for Inter’s 2-1 win over Sampdoria in
February they were greeted with jeers
and whistles just as soon as the giant
screen focused on them during the
match warm-up.
The fans’ favourite idol is clearly
losing traction. Inter-related websites are
overwhelmed with less-than-favourable
comments about both him and his wife.
Even an open letter from Icardi to Inter,
in early March, declaring his deep
attachment to the club, does not seem
to have moved everyone.
In the letter, Icardi pointed out how he
had rejected fabulous offers from other
clubs to stay with Inter.
That admission only prompted fans toMauro Icardi
Outcast...with Lionel
Messi at a national-
team training session“I would tell my wife that she cannot say things like that about
my team-mates, otherwise I would put her out of the house”
Former Milan and Italy defender Alessandro CostacurtaProblems...Icardi has fallen
out with Inter this yearShowbiz...
on Italian TV