Nainggolan: 'If Icardi had a problem...'

By Football Italia staff

Radja Nainggolan praised Inter Coach Luciano Spalletti over the Mauro Icardi situation. “If he had problems with someone, he shouldn’t have let those issues damage the team.”

The striker was stripped of the captaincy on February 13 and then immediately felt a knee injury, one which did not seem to show up in medical tests.

After six weeks of self-imposed exile and negotiations with the club via a lawyer, Icardi returned to the team last week.

“Everyone in a team is important, but nobody is indispensable,” Nainggolan told the Corriere dello Sport newspaper.

“Mauro is a great player, but we have another like Lautaro Martinez who did very well when given the chance and is destined for a future at the top of the sport.

“Too much has been said. If Icardi had problems with someone, it should’ve been up to him to resolve them and not let those issues damage the rest of the team.

“Enough now, he is training and available, just like everyone else. If he continues like this and scores goals, then he is an important player to have.”

Did Nainggolan ever give advice to Icardi during the row that kept him out of the squad?

“I told him what I thought, which was that if he had problems that he needed to resolve with someone, the whole group could not be made to pay for it with his absence.

“Spalletti put the focus on the group. A Coach must be credible in the eyes of his players and Spalletti tried to deal with the situation as best he could by doing what he had to do.

“Even if Spalletti wanted me here at Inter, I paid the price when I made a mistake. That’s how it has to work. For everyone.”

Nainggolan turned up late to training a few too many times, so was suspended for a week and fined.

As the Belgian hinted, it was Spalletti who called him away from Roma and to Inter, but the Coach has been criticised for some of that poor form this season.

“Of course, I feel in debt to him and it’s disappointing I haven’t so far been able to give my best to help him and the team,” confessed Nainggolan.

“It’s inevitable to be irritated when you read certain things. We are human beings and if someone is writing that your job is being offered to someone else… However, if Inter finish third, Spalletti can say he improved upon last season, and the objective is to always improve.”

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