According to Milano based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, the former Nerazzurri captain Mauro Icardi, will not take part in the match tomorrow against Sampdoria. He announced to Luciano Spalletti yesterday his absence is due to the problem in his right knee.
Recovery times are uncertain but it is clear that this move is a reaction for having seen the captaincy taken away from him, and an attitude that clearly does not please anyone, including his managers, fans or teammates.
The former captain continues the theory, even in front of the medical staff, that he is not able to take the field due to the inflammation of the knee, which was made official in the early afternoon by a tweet from the club.
To avoid misunderstandings, Icardi has been playing through this issue for months, he could have played in Vienna as well as against Sampdoria, without any insurmountable problems, just like he was on the pitch before the game in Austria, or before this case exploded. However, Mauro has opted for another option.
The separation is clear and Inter does not intend to bring the Argentine bomber back into the fold. It’s up to Icardi to patch things up, nothing more and nothing less. Surely the Argentine, in yesterday’s interview with the manager, would have said he was very surprised at the decision to remove the captaincy and, speaking of Wanda’s public statements, he also said he did not know what was wrong with what his wife says on TV, but these words do not help his position and indeed, as the Gazzetta points out, they somehow complicate things.
In the meantime Wanda Nara, in the last few days, has moved away from Letterio Pino, the agent she has long relied on for the legal aspects of the negotiations with Inter.
However, the dressing room is now more compact. The Vienna response came loud and clear. The ball is in Icardi’s court: we’ll see if he will make an attempt at reconcillitaion or if he still prefers to play the part of the imaginary patient.