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Horncastle: Is this the final chapter for Icardi at Inter?
Brambati claims to have seen about 40 ultras brooding and leaving a banner by the roadside. Good Lord, it couldn’t be for his neighbour Maurizio Ganz, could it? It’s nearly two decades since he swapped Inter for Milan and the fans surely can’t still be angry with him. Brambati then read the banner and realised it was for the kid upstairs, the owner of the penthouse. The one with the rooftop swimming pool overlooking San Siro; Mauro Icardi. According to Brambati, the striker’s car was kicked at as it pulled in and the mob only dispersed when a security guard let it be seen he was armed.
The club and Icardi’s wife Wanda have denied this version of events. “Nothing happened,” she said. “We got home without any problems.” The porter apparently later removed the banner and its intimidating missive. “We’re here,” it informed Icardi. “Let us know when your Argentine mates arrive.” It alluded to the origin of their grievance, a passage in Icardi’s new book Sempre Avanti, released a week ago, [an amusing play on the word ‘forward’ and the saying ‘Ever onwards’] which he now can’t take back or retreat from.
In it, Icardi revisited a clash he'd had with the ultras after a defeat to Sassuolo in February, 2015 at the Mapei Stadium. He went over to the away end to satisfy their demand that Inter “explain themselves" and upon seeing a boy in their midst, took off his shirt and handed it to him as a way of saying: ‘Sorry about the loss. Thanks for coming all the same'.” A capo ultrà apparently then jumped on the kid, grabbed the shirt off him and threw it back. Icardi promptly lost his temper and began hurling abuse.
As if making this public - or “making it up” the Curva Nord insist - wasn’t enough, Icardi recalled getting a hero’s welcome in the dressing room. When a member of staff expressed fears that the ultras would be waiting outside his house when he got home - pity poor Ganz and Brambati - he told him to mark his words: "I am ready to face them one on one. Maybe they don’t know that I grew up in an area of South America with one of the highest crime rates where people get killed in the streets. How many of them are there? 50, 100, 200. Fine, put this on record and make sure they get to hear it: ‘I’ll get 100 criminals over from Argentina and have them all killed’.”
Although a “surprised and disappointed” Icardi would later Instagram a clarification in which he pointed out how, even in the book, he admitted to going a bit over the top, the Curva Nord were not about to let this one slide. Spotting an opportunity to wield their power, they want him stripped of the armband and left Icardi in no uncertain terms of their opinion of him during Sunday’s game against Cagliari. “You use a child to justify your actions and slag us off,” one banner read. “You’re not a man. You’re not a captain. You’re just a dirty fucking turd.”
Speaking before kick-off, Javier Zanetti, Inter’s vice-president, did not defend him. “The fans are the most important thing to us,” he said. “They must be respected.” Pier Ausilio, Inter’s director of sport, insisted: “Zanetti speaks for the club.” A surreal atmosphere gripped San Siro. Understandably affected by it, Icardi missed a penalty and as he did, the Curva Nord applauded. The rest of the ground then whistled the ultras. That Icardi has divided the fans, distracting them from getting by the team, miffed Ausilio greatly.
One-nil up, Inter lost 2-1 to the promoted outfit, who have started the season impressively and move into seventh place. The focus should have been on a fifth defeat in 10 in all competitions, the small matter of Inter winning just one of their last 12 at San Siro, how they can’t keep a clean sheet at home, their shortcomings in defence, Gary Medel acting like a handbrake in midfield, Antonio Candreva’s wayward crossing and Frank de Boer’s substitutions and tactical changes complicating life for Inter. Instead it was fixed exclusively on Icardi and his repeated inability to self-edit.
If he is to be stripped of the armband, it will not be for this incident alone. Some thought the honour came too soon and that he was too young for it. Others believed he should never have been given it in the first place, particularly given he spent his first year at the club mostly on social media rubbing it into former teammate Maxi Lopez after breaking up his marriage.
Last year, he had a go at his teammates for not getting him the ball enough and was dropped for it. A spat with Diego Maradona refuses to go away. The coach of Argentina also had to come out last week to deny reports that the reason Icardi keeps getting overlooked for a call up is because Lionel Messi has vetoed his inclusion. This summer he was whistled upon Inter’s return from their pre-season tour of the US after Wanda, his wife and agent, used social media and a series of interviews to force a new deal only a year after signing an extension. Pen was put to paper on that new contract just last week.
In hindsight, perhaps Icardi should have accepted Napoli’s offer and stepped into Gonzalo Higuain’s boots at the San Paolo after all. Aurelio De Laurentiis did offer Wanda a film role and they could certainly use him in light of Arkadiusz Milik’s injury. His bridges with the ultras now seem burnt. From their perspective, the differences are irreconcilable. “We're done with you. It’s over.” The trouble is the two have one thing in common. Both of them love Inter.
Icardi has had opportunities to leave for clubs with whom he could win titles, play regular Champions League football and earn more money. Instead, time and again he has repeated his desire to do all of those things with Inter even if it means having to wait. Up until now he has seemed genuine about it too. Fans like this in a captain. They also like having one of the best strikers in the world and it should be underlined once again that for all the hostility the ultras showed toward Icardi on Sunday, the rest of the crowd at San Siro was hostile to them. In fact, a petition has been launched in support of Icardi.
While it’s true he is not the impeccable role model Armando Picchi, Giacinto Facchetti, Beppe Bergomi and Zanetti were for the Nerazzurri, the club isn’t blameless here either. Most clubs these days ask to see a journalist’s questions and sometimes even demand copy approval before an interview is released. Are the same standards really not applied to the most media trained generation of footballers ever? Should someone in the marketing department not have taken a look before the release of Sempre Avanti? The line Ausilio gave was that a 23-year-old should not be writing a biography in the first place but let’s be fair to Icardi, there has been more controversy and incident in his young life than many people experience in a lifetime.
A meeting will be held today to decide what action to take. Curiously they could have asked Cagliari for advice on how to handle the matter. The Sardinians took the armband away from Marco Storari this season after he fell out of favour with the ultras who distributed a leaflet accusing him of being a mercenary. Massimo Rastelli, their coach, explained the decision as follows: he wanted to put an end to the matter before it became a distraction. So the ultras won... Inter have given into fan power before, notably when the ultras got wind that they were trading Fredy Guarin, one of their best players at the time, to Juventus for benchwarmer Mirko Vucinic. Will they do so again?
Samir Handanovic and Miranda have been mentioned as potential successors. Alternatively Inter could suspend the captaincy for a period and fine him? It’s a delicate decision but one that doesn’t necessarily mean Inter are finished with one of the best finishers around. If anyone has a strong enough character to come through the other side of this debacle, you know what, it probably is Icardi.
