Report: Inter's Relationship With Icardi Fractured, Exit Likely
Inter could lose both manager Luciano Spalletti and Mauro Icardi at the end of this campaign, as pressure mounts on the club to qualify for the Champions League.
After a 2-1 home loss to Cagliari on Friday, Inter sit in fourth place in Serie A behind rivals AC Milan. The spotlight is placed on the manager again as Inter slowly lose their place in Champions League automatic qualifying through the league.
Four teams are currently chasing Inter for the final qualifying spot and there is still no sign of Icardi returning to the pitch, as the saga that has seen the forward stripped of the captaincy rages on.
With Inter slowly slipping out of the top four, there has been speculation that both Spalletti and Icardi will be on the move in the summer.
As reported by Corriere della Sera, viaCalcioMercato, the board has made qualifying for the Champions League Spalletti's only condition to stay. Despite the confidence by the organization, Spalletti is still set to depart at the end of the season, with Massimiliano Allegri an option to replace the former Roma man.
Spalletti will still have a lot to play for in the final third of the Serie A season, but he must also look to the Europa League for possible automatic qualification. Inter are one of the favorites to lift the trophy and will need to do so if they continue to slip in the league.
In the same report, Icardi's relationship with Inter seems to still be fractured. The club has claimed that the Argentinian forward may return to training whenever he feels fit, but there are no signs of this happening anytime soon.
Icardi has not featured for the club since his captaincy was stripped and it appears the relationship is broken beyond repair. Inter cannot force the player onto the pitch if he continues to claim he feels pain in his knee, despite team medical staff revealing there is no new injury.
Inter continue their fight for Champions League qualification with a round of 16 tie against Eintracht Frankfurt before they take on 16th place SPAL in Serie A on Saturday.
