Mauro Icardi is a fantastic finisher and he’s been a genuine top-level striker for years, but there are a few odd stats when you look back on his career.
The main one is that he only has eight caps for Argentine, but that has very little to do with his ability.
His wife and agent Wanda Nara used to go out with one of his teammates Maxi Lopez, and there’s a feeling in Argentina that Icardi didn’t conduct himself in an appropriate manner during that episode as she left Lopez to be with him.
There were suggestions of Icardi openly gloating and then there was an incident when he allegedly blocked Lopez from seeing his own kids, so it doesn’t paint him a great light.
Lopez is also Argentinian and he clearly had the support of some important players in the national team, so it meant that the squad just wouldn’t entertain calling Icardi up because of the potential unrest that it could’ve caused.
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Obviously this does sound like some primary school level stuff where groups are formed and people are ordered not to speak to someone else, but Lionel Messi is the leader for Argentina and it makes his transfer links with PSG even more interesting.
A report from Goal has looked at the prospect of the pair teaming up in France, but it sounds like the Parisians are now happy to sell Icardi in order to attract Messi to the club.
It’s not clear how much of that decision would be financially related and how much of it relates to his previous behaviour, but it shows PSG are willing to do all they can to make the club as attractive as possible to the Barcelona star.
He would also get to link up with his friend and former teammate Neymar so that’s a big selling point too, but it would be interesting to see if Icardi is really kicked out of the club due to Messi’s arrival.