Inter are battling six potential stumbling blocks as they attempt to find a buyer for Mauro Icardi, according to an article in La Repubblica today.
Icardi is still only 26 and has finished two of the last six Serie A campaigns as the league’s top goal-scorer, netting 111 times for Inter since his arrival in 2013.
However, despite being officially placed on the transfer market by Beppe Marotta at the start of July, nobody seems willing to make an offer.
Napoli and Juventus are the only clubs to have contacted his wife and agent Wanda Nara, while Roma’s approach to Inter was unsuccessful because they knew Maurito would not be interested.
Franco Vanni published a long piece in Monday’s paper in which he explained why Inter are finding it so hard to offload their former captain.
“One of the fears clubs have when evaluating a move for Icardi is the effect his arrival would have on their dressing room,” he explained.
“Icardi works hard and is faithful to any commitments he makes, but he has also shown a tendency to be a hothead; such as in January 2016, when he laid hands upon Stevan Jovetic after a tough tackle on Danilo D’Ambrosio in training.
“The world is also full of players who would veto Icardi’s arrival because of another story, one from which he has always defended himself: having stolen Maxi Lopez’s wife from him.”
Wanda Nara herself is another reason suitors are put off Icardi, with many clubs unwilling to tolerate her public style of negotiating.
“It’s one thing to deal with an experienced agent, but it’s a whole other matter dealing with Wanda, who posts tens of Instagram stories and appears on Tiki Taka to accuse Icardi’s teammates of not passing him the ball enough,” Vanni continued.
Wanda’s desire to stay in Milan, a desire which is shared by Icardi, is a similar issue that clubs must deal with.
A third factor is the number of times Icardi has rejected moves away from Inter in the past, with Vanni citing the ‘nos’ he gave to Atletico Madrid and Napoli in previous summers.
“Aurelio De Laurentiis flew to Milan in 2016 to ask Wanda if she could convince Icardi to move to Naples, but the response he got was: ‘I’m Inter’s captain’.
“Today he no longer is the captain and he is out of Inter’s plans, but past rejections could always influence future talks.”
Romelu Lukaku is a fourth problem Inter must deal with, as the Nerazzurri chase the forward Antonio Conte so desperately wants.
Inter need €80 million to secure a deal for the Belgian, and at the moment they do not have it, so both Juventus and Napoli are aware that they would be doing their rivals a big favour if they spent big money on Icardi.
Fifth on Vanni’s list is Icardi’s ever-decreasing value, encouraging clubs to wait as long as possible before making a low offer.
Inter want €70 million to sell Maurito but both Juve and Napoli are confident they can secure him for €50 million, with the transfer window not due to close until 2 September.
Icardi’s personal pride is a final problem for Inter to overcome, with the striker recently revealing to friends that he was prepared to make an incredible stance of defiance.
“He’s told them: ‘If they don’t want me in the team I’ll sit out two years and keep taking my salary’.
“And he has the right to do so, rejecting every club that makes an offer and training with Inter until he is ready to leave, at which point the club would not receive a single euro. It would be a terrible vendetta.”
Icardi could even seek legal action against Inter for ‘discriminatory conduct’, although this appears a more complicated way out.