Getty Images
EXCLUSIVE Romano: Icardi nearly joined Roma
That's right, Mauro Icardi came very close to joining the Giallorossi before ultimately picking Inter.
What happened? On a cold January night back in 2013, Icardi’s agents met Sabatini in the Hotel Visconti, Roma’s base of operations in Milan. The two sides went into quite some detail, from the price Sampdoria wanted to a first draft Roma had already prepared.
Though Sabatini had always had a soft spot for Icardi, but may be guilty of not fancying his chances enough. At the time, Napoli were also chasing Maurito, even inviting his father Mauro to their HQ in Castelvolturno for a tour of the facilities: that eventually went nowhere, despite Alberto Bigon’s best efforts.
This is the bit Sabatini may want to have erased from his memory: with Roma having failed to go for broke,
Icardi's team went to their next appointment... Inter! The Nerazzurri showed no such hesitation: contacted by phone, president Massimo Moratti susprised everyone by promising that “Mauro will be my last big present to the fans”.
Believe it or not, but legend has it that Inter’s Sporting Director at the time, Marco Branca, revealed that Icardi reminded him of his own father.
Piero Ausilio hammered the final nail in the coffin by promising Maurito, and it wasn’t the salary of over €1 million a year that did it , though that was something huge for a 20-year-old. What truly swung things… was the offer of a starting role and the Number 9 shirt of his childhood club.
That’s right, Icardi couldn’t turn the chance to play for Inter, a team he loved so much so that he’d supported the Nerazzurri from the stands of the Camp Nou in that famous Champions League semi-final, despite Icardi still being a Barça player!
