As things currently stand, Mauro Icardi is unlikely to be called up for the Argentine national team’s upcoming friendly matches with Venezuela and Morocco according to a report from ESPN.

Icardi has recently been stripped of the Inter captaincy and has not featured in any of the Nerazzurri’s past four matches.

The striker alerted the club of pain in his knee prior to the first leg against Rapid Vienna although Inter’s scans showed that there was no damage which has led to suggestions in the media that the recently turned 26-year-old is simply feigning injury to get out of playing with tensions running high between himself and the club.

Despite being highly prolific since joining Inter in 2013, Icardi has struggled to cement a place in the Argentine national team setup and has made just eight national team appearances. However, four of those have come in the past six or so months which would suggest he was turning a corner.