On Wednesday things went a little crazy as it seemed Mauro Icardi’s wife and agent was in London to discuss a move to Arsenal.
Could the player that Inter Milan have said is ‘unsellable’ really be on his way to Arsenal?
Let’s take a look.
The claims:
Some ITK’s (or not ITK’s) tweeted that Arsenal were working on something big (this guy wasn’t the only one)
Heard this morning Arsenal are working on a big deal for a striker. Word is things are looking good, but as with all major deals #Patience
— Matt aka Gimli (@GoonerGimli) July 20, 2016
I'm told it's over £50m, but let's wait and see #Arsenal
— Matt aka Gimli (@GoonerGimli) July 20, 2016
SportMediaSet reported that Icardi is in the States, training with Inter while his wife is in England.
Wanda Nara tweeted and it was geostamped with ‘London, England’.
Mauro Icardi's wife and agent is tweeting from London… pic.twitter.com/UcJvMAcsUc
— Simon Collings (@sr_collings) July 20, 2016
Reports emerged that Arsenal had made a €50m bid, offering €6m in wages
This morning's Corriere dello Sport claims Arsenal have made a bid of €50m for Icardi and will offer wages of €6m-a-year.
— Simon Collings (@sr_collings) July 20, 2016
So what do we know?
Well, first up, a geostamp on a Tweet proves nothing:
So adding the location is fairly simple. #icardi and his wife. pic.twitter.com/16GQsqfiIN
— SlovenianGooner (@slovenianGooner) July 20, 2016
Even if she is in London, there could be a load of reasons for that – she could be meeting with Chelsea, she could be doing some shopping, she could have some media interviews or doing some business. The thing is, we just don’t know, but you can bet everything you have that Wanda Nara knew what she was doing when she sent that tweet to her followers with the location switched on.
Next, we know that Icardi’s agent thinks that Inter Milan have not honoured their promises to him in regards to pay. For the majority of this recent saga, it has seemed very much like a ploy by Nara to force Inter into upping his paycheque.
Despite these recent claims, I see no reason to move position on this.
I could be wrong, in fact, I really hope I am, but there is something about this whole thing that makes me think it is just for Inter Milan’s benefit and nobody elses.
I don’t doubt that Arsenal are trying very hard to land a really big name striker, but with so much politics being played out across Europe, that job is harder than many seem to realise.
If I’m wrong, it means that Arsenal are going to sign Mauro Icardi and that Inter Milan have sold their captain to us.
That’s something I can live with.
I fear, however, we will simply see him sign a bumper new deal with the Italians.