Football
Ben Gladwell, Italy correspondent 5y

Juventus' Icardi interest 'out of order' - Inter's Marotta

Inter Milan general manager Beppe Marotta has branded Juventus sporting director Fabio Paratici "out of order" for suggesting they could make a move for Mauro Icardi next summer.

Speaking to RAI Radio, Paratici said the Bianconeri had made enquiries about Icardi before signing Cristiano Ronaldo last summer, and he added that "questions about Icardi may be on the agenda again, or not, next summer."

Marotta did not take kindly to his former colleague's remarks in what is a delicate moment for Icardi's future, after he was stripped of the captaincy last week.

"Then what I say is: 'Let's see what happens with Dybala in June,'" Marotta responded to Sky Sport Italia. "I am just going to put that out there because, as I always say, football is a bit of a circus, but Paratici's words are out of order.

"Icardi is our player and he is not on the market."

There are huge question marks over Icardi's future. After losing the captaincy, he allegedly refused to travel with the squad for the Europa League clash with Rapid Vienna before watching Sunday's 2-1 victory over Sampdoria from the stands.

However, Inter president Steven Zhang has said Juve would not stand a chance of signing Icardi even if he were available.

"Mauro will never go to Juventus," he told Sky Sport Italia. "We believe that he will continue to develop with us and we consider him part of the family.

"I also want to say that Icardi has always been a model professional and he is an extremely important member of our family. We will always help him to grow in the right way and we can guarantee him the support of the group.

"We are all very positive and I don't think there will be any hard feelings. This issue will be dealt with once and for all for everybody this week and I cannot see any future developments. We're quite confident. As I've said, Icardi is very professional as a person and a footballer. He's a good lad."

Talks over extending Icardi's contract are now set to resume, with the dust settling on recent events.

"We will definitely discuss his renewal very soon because he is an important player for Inter," Zhang said. "We will send him an offer and then enter into negotiations on his new contract, which is not related in any way to what has happened."

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