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How the incredible drop in Icardi's market value happens

  /  autty

Antonio Conte made his demands clear to the board at Inter upon arrival, and one of his wishes was that Mauro Icardi be sold, yet this rather public desire to get rid of a prolific goalscorer has seen the former Sampdoria star's market value drop incredibly.

He has a buyout clause of 110 million euros in his contract which was originally inserted to keep clubs like Real Madrid and Manchester United at bay, especially with the striker's form in 2017/18 being good enough to attract the interest of such clubs.

However, it was in February of 2019 when things began to fall apart for Icardi in Milan, not least due to the influence of his wife and agent, Wanda Nara.

Already a well-publicised relationship due to matters away from the pitch that we don't need to go into here, the duo were quickly backed into a corner by Wanda's public criticisms of the club's management.

Any talks over a contract extension were put on ice and the player was stripped of the captaincy before refusing to play for the club as a result.

This didn't stop Wanda's television appearances though, and the Nerazzurri grew frustrated with the soap opera that this all became.

Despite making a return to the team for the final matches of the Luciano Spalletti era, Conte has stood firm and excluded Icardi from traveling to Asia for pre-season with his teammates.

Now, you may be wondering what the problem is, yet the behaviour of Wanda has terrified buying clubs, as has Icardi's lack of ownership of his own situation.

Florentino Perez hasn't been at all interested in engaging with her, whilst even Manchester United's Ed Woodward has somehow made a decision that many will deem as sensible.

Transfermarkt currently holds Icardi's market value at around 80 million euros, but Inter are struggling to get anything over half that.

Juventus are the most interested team but are unwilling to offer any more than 40 million euros, despite the fact their fierce rivals have demanded a 60 million euro fee.

His contract with the club runs until June 2021, so this is a saga that could run and run, even if both the Bianconeri and Napoli would be somewhat interested in acquiring him.

The delay is holding up Inter's other business too, with Manchester United refusing to listen to any offers under 80 million euros for Romelu Lukaku, a fee that the Italian club are believed to be unable to match unless Icardi is sold.