Icardi loses captaincy and is omitted from Inter squad

Inter have left Mauro Icardi out of their squad for Thursday's Europa League clash with Rapid Vienna after stripping him of the captaincy earlier on Wednesday. The Serie A club revealed goalkeeper Samir Handanovic as their new skipper but did not give any reasons for Icardi's removal. The Argentina international trained with the squad on Wednesday but was a notable absentee when Inter named the 19-man party who would travel to Austria for the first leg of their last-32 tie.

Icardi has a contract with the Nerazzurri until 2021 but continues to be linked with a move away, with Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United all having been credited with an interest. Speaking last month, Icardi's wife and agent Wanda Nara insisted he would sign a renewal.

February 13, 2019

However, that has done little to assuage doubts over his future and head coach Luciano Spalletti - speaking after a 1-0 win over Parma at the weekend - expressed his frustration.

"I have not created any problems for Icardi," Spalletti told DAZN. "Issues need to be clarified, because when you leave things half-cooked, they become open to interpretation. People have said a few too many things, now there is time to sit down and talk about something we've avoided and dragged along with us for months."

The situation became more unclear when Nara, speaking on the Tiki Taka show, said: "I would like Mauro to be more protected by the club because sometimes some bad things come from inside."