Mauro Icardi remains confident he will be brought back into Inter’s first-team squad when the Nerazzurri return from Asia, according to Gazzetta dello Sport.
Inter’s CEO Beppe Marotta recently claimed ‘something was moving’ with their former captain, who has no future with the Nerazzurri after being discarded by Antonio Conte.
Marotta’s comments were referring to interest from Napoli, though, whom Icardi is still not interested in joining.
“He was suggesting Maurito is now open to the idea of joining the Partenopei, but the signs we’re getting from Icardi himself are going in the opposite direction,” Gazzetta reported this morning.
“Only Juventus can change the scenario the Argentine has laid out in his head. His relationship with Inter is broken and it would only hurt the Nerazzurri if this story dragged on throughout the summer.”
Fabio Paratici is planning to leave it as late as possible before moving for Icardi, in order to secure as low a price as possible for the forward.
Icardi is also thought to find this strategy appealing, though, given that his standoff with Inter has become a ‘war of nerves’.
Maurito is training alone at Appiano Gentile this week as Inter’s first team continue their preseason tour in Asia, which pits them against Juventus in Nanjing today.
But the striker expects to be reintegrated by Conte upon their return to Europe, with his future unlikely to be resolved until late August.
Marotta still hopes he can arrange a swap deal with Juventus involving Paulo Dybala, although his frosty relationship with his former colleague Paratici means he would need to negotiate directly with the Bianconeri’s owner Andrea Agnelli.