Marotta: 'Diplomacy key with Icardi'

By Football Italia staff

Inter director Giuseppe Marotta used “diplomacy” to resolve the Mauro Icardi saga, but won’t reveal why the captaincy was removed. “There are some dynamics that cannot be made public.”

The striker returned to training this week, not having played since he was stripped of the captaincy on February 13 and immediately afterwards felt pain in his knee.

After intensive negotiations with agent Wanda Nara and a lawyer, Icardi finally agreed to resume training with the rest of the squad.

“I was nicknamed Kissinger by my first President Colantuoni. I am known for my diplomacy, resolving issues with leadership,” Marotta told reporters at the Il Foglio a San Siro event.

“After all, I once had Antonio Cassano and Gheddafi's son in the same team... In this case, I tried to calm the tensions in the interest of everyone.”

It has never been clarified what prompted the decision to revoke Icardi’s captaincy and hand it to Samir Handanovic instead.

“In a club, there are some dynamics that cannot be made public. The decisions must be made with a sense of responsibility. We didn’t want to punish anyone, that’s just a fact. We reached that point because our job within the club is to protect the Coach with the objective of respecting the ‘community’ of the squad. I am not talking about the Icardi issue.

“If you want to step out there on to the field and deliver, you need a team spirit. One of the most important objectives of a club and Coach is to respect that.”

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