Mauro Icardi has a lot of talent and could be at the top of the world, but his relationship with Wanda Nara changed his life so much that he now plays for Galatasaray. He could have played for teams like Real Madrid and Arsenal, so in this article, you will read Mauro Icardi biography.
He is not a part of the Argentina National Team because Messi doesn’t like the way he behaves. There is more to know about Mauro Icardi life story, so it might be a good idea to read about his career and life.
Everything About Mauro Icardi Biography
The Footbalium has everything to know about Mauro Icardi. Let’s start by going into his chaotic world.
Mauro Icardi’s Early Life
Mauro Icardi real name is Mauro Emanuel Icardi. He is Carlos Icardi and Analia Rivero’s first child. The boy already had three half-siblings, Juan Jesus, Aldana, and Franco, the product of his father’s previous marriage. Juan Carlos Icardi took Mauro to the Sarratea club, a humble social and sporting institution in Rosario’s northwestern. Then the boy began to want to play more and more.
He did it as a goalkeeper in the club’s 92 class and then played as a striker in ’93, his ultimately historic thanks to him: according to data from the Rosario Football Association, in his first season, back in 1999, Mauro he became the team’s top scorer with 51 goals, and the team was champion.
In the second, they repeated their consecration, and Mauro scored 108 goals. In the third, the triplet came with the impressive figure of 99 goals. At age 5, his father enrolled him in the Sarratea Children’s Club, located in the north of the city of Rosario.
One of the family’s first decisions upon arriving in the Canary Islands was to enroll Mauro in a football club, The Union Deportiva Vecindario, for which he became the team’s all-time top scorer in his category, with 128 goals, and that is a big part of Mauro Icardi biography.
The Argentine forward played so much and so well that scouts from clubs like Real Madrid, Liverpool, and Arsenal from England or Valencia noticed him. Still, Barcelona won the bid when, in 2008, they signed him at La Masia, their talent factory.
Mauro Icardi’s Statistics
Mauro Icardi began his career as a young player with Barcelona. He then moved to Sampdoria to start his professional career. He joined Inter in 2013, and in 2014–15, he shared the Capocannoniere trophy for being the best scorer in Serie A.
Since his first game as a senior player in October 2013, Icardi has played for Argentina at the international level. We can see why Mauro Icardi stats are the best if we look closely.
Playing Career
Playing for Barcelona was a turning point in Mauro Icardi biography. In 2007, Valencia, Sevilla, Arsenal, and Liverpool tried to sign him, but only Barcelona and Real Madrid could get serious. Barcelona beat out other teams to sign Icardi and signed him until 2013.
At the start of the 2008/09 season, Icardi joined the Catalan club and was put on the U-17 team. The following season, he was moved up to the U-19 team. In January 2011, he went on loan to Sampdoria. Icardi later said that leaving Barcelona was not a bad idea. He was sure that moving on was the right thing to do.
Sampdoria
Sampdoria announced on January 11, 2011, that Icardi had joined the team on loan until the end of the season. After a successful six-month loan to Samp, who scored 13 goals in 19 games, the Italian team used the option to buy Icardi for €400,000 in July 2011 and signed a three-year deal.
Inter
In another part of Mauro Icardi biography, he joined Inter before the 2013-14 season started. The Sampdoria board also later agreed to the deal. The fee for moving was €13 million. Icardi was officially introduced as an Inter player and was given the number 9 squad. He said that joining Inter is a “dream come true.” He also said, “I had a lot of offers, but I only wanted Inter.”
Icardi’s first official game with Inter was on August 25, 2013. Icardi scored his team’s only goal in a 1–1 draw against Juventus at Juventus Stadium on November 9, 2014. After that, he became a fan favorite for Nerazzurri.
Before the 2015–16 season started, it was decided that Icardi would be the new captain of Inter. He would replace Andrea Ranocchia, who had lost his position after a bad 2014–15 season. Mauro Icardi’s stats in 2013 were good enough for fans to trust him in big games.
Icardi signed a new contract with Inter on October 7 that would keep him there until June 2021 with a buyout clause for €110 million. He became a hero to the fans until Antonio Conte took over the coaching role.
The Nerazzurri have never said for sure why they made the decision. Still, it is thought that it was because Icardi’s wife and agent, Wanda, publicly criticized some of her husband’s teammates on TV, which led to a five-month soap opera with accusations and counter-accusations and even a temporary truce.
But it was clear that Icardi and Inter still didn’t like each other anymore. In the last days of Icardi in Inter, sporting director Beppe Marotta and Antonio Conte told a press conference together that the Argentine would not be in their plans for the new season. Icardi was sold to PSG for €50m in the end.
PSG
Icardi won his first club trophy on May 1, 2020, when PSG won Ligue 1 after the season was cut short because of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time the season was cut short, PSG was in the first place, 12 points ahead of second-placed Marseille.
After the season started again in the summer, Icardi won the Coupe de France and the Coupe de la Ligue. He also made it to the UEFA Champions League final, where he was an unused substitute even though he and Kylian Mbappe were the team’s top scorers with five goals in 7 games.
Galatasaray
He signed a one-year loan deal with Galatasaray for the 2021/22 season. After scoring twice in the derby against Besiktas, he is also a fan favorite there.
International Career with Argentina
Icardi’s first game with the Argentine Under-20 team was against Germany in August 2012. Italy wanted him to play for them, but Icardi said he wanted to play for Argentina’s senior team, even though he could play for Italy.
In 2013, he played his first game with the main team. In Argentina, people started to say in October 2016 that Lionel Messi kept Icardi off the national team because he was friends with Maxi López, his wife’s former teammate.
Edgardo Bauza, the coach of Argentina’s national team, said that Icardi’s actions off the field had nothing to do with him not making the team. He also said that Messi does not “dictate” the team. But he didn’t make the team for the 2019 and 2021 Copa America, the 2018 World Cup, or the 2022 World Cup.
Mauro Icardi’s Playing Style
We dedicate this part of Mauro Icardi biography to his playing style. Icardi is a fast, tactically smart, and physically strong striker with the nicknames “El Nio del partido” and “O Caito.” He has good technique, attacking movement, positioning, and a good eye, and he works mainly in the middle of the penalty area. Inside the box, he can finish with his head or both feet, and he is known for being able to score with a few touches. He can also hold the ball to give other players space and chances or play outside his teammates.
Even though he used to get criticized for not being very creative or defensive and for not moving around outside the box, his work rate has improved in recent years. He has been seen moving into wide positions to make space for teammates or give them assists.
Mauro Icardi’s Family
It won’t be a complete Mauro Icardi biography if we don’t talk about Mauro Icardi’s wife and children. On May 27, 2014, in Buenos Aires, Mauro wed Wanda Nara, a media figure and football agent in Argentina with 16.5M followers on Instagram. Two daughters, Francesca (2015) and Isabella (2016), are their children.
In Argentina, many people dislike Icardi because of his controversial marriage to Wanda. Reports say that Wanda’s marriage to Lopez, with whom she had three children, terminated in divorce after the revelation of her affair with Icardi.
The Mauro Icardi, Wanda Nara, and Maxi Lopez Love Triangle
Lopez was married to Wanda Nara, an Argentine media star, football agent, and model, from 2008 to 2013. Even though it was thought that Nara and Icardi dated while she was married to Lopez, the truth is that the couple, who had three sons together, broke up in a very public way when a court ruled on their divorce, and both sides accused the other of cheating.
They divorced in November 2013, and Icardi married Nara in May 2014. However, the month before, he had to play against Maxi Lopez when Inter played Sampdoria. This led to headlines like “The Wanda Derby,” which made another football player’s cheating too well known.
Wanda Nara’s role in the story of Icardi’s career has grown a lot since then. She is not only Icardi’s professional agent but also keeps the tension between the player and fans.
Mauro Icardi’s Honors
Mauro Icardi has won a lot of titles with PSG, and it’s likely that he will win a lot more with Galatasaray. Even though he was very good at Inter, he never came close to winning a title. Here is a full list of all of Mauro Icardi’s honors:
- Ligue 1: 2019/20, 2021/22
- Coupe de France: 2019/20, 2020/21
- Coupe de la Ligue: 2019/20
- Trophée des Champions: 2020, 2022
Individual
- Capocannoniere: 2014/15, 2017/18
- Serie A Team of the Year: 2014/15, 2017/18
- Serie A Goal of the Year: 2018
- Serie A Footballer of the Year: 2018
- Gazzetta Sports Awards Performance of the Year: 2018
Mauro Icardi’s Life Outside of Football
Mauro Icardi biography is getting interesting with his life outside of football section. The marriage to Wanda fueled bad blood toward Icardi in Argentina, making him the focus of speculations and baseless assertions by Argentine media. On October 11, 2016, Sperling & Kupfer published Icardi’s memoir, Sempre Avanti (Always Forward).
The book sparked debate because Icardi explained an event that insulted some Inter fans, prompting a banner to be showcased calling for Icardi to leave the team. The club penalized and obligated him to delete such content from the book. Once after Inter’s 1-0 win over Genoa on December 6, 2015, Icardi was robbed of his £29,000 Hublot watch. It’s obvious Icardi hates his past because of the troubles he had.
