Mauro Icardi hasn’t started a match since February 15 when Paris Saint-Germain drew against Amiens SC 4-4.
Since then, he’s made spot appearances in place of Edinson Cavani and even scored a goal against Dijon FCO last weekend, but his absence from the starting lineup has been a bit curious to say the least.
Icardi joined PSG on loan last summer from Inter Milan and got off to a fast start. Before the holiday break, the 27-year-old bagged nine goals in Ligue 1 and another five goals in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.
Things have slowed down a bit in 2020 but it’s not like Cavani has been lighting up the scoreboard. After he tried to force a transfer to Atlético Madrid in January, Cavani returned to the squad in February and has scored two goals since while wasting countless chances.
There’s been no reports of an injury or anything like that to keep Icardi out of the starting lineup. There was a report that he was furious about not starting against Borussia Dortmund in Germany for the first leg of the Champions League knockout stage but may have been overblown. Cavani didn’t play in the match against Dortmund either.
According to L’Equipe (via Sempre Inter), the lack of playing time could be the result of a falling out with PSG’s two superstars, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar Jr.
The French publication reports that Icardi is frustrated that Mbappé and Neymar ignore him when he’s on the pitch with them and that they only play passes between each other instead of looking for him.
This is slightly misleading considering Mbappé assisted Icardi for his goal against Dijon FCO recently.
However, L’Equipe cites the match against AS Saint-Étienne on January 8 where Mbappé and Neymar completed more than 30 passes between each other while none went to Icardi. He did score a hat-trick in that 6-1 win, so it’s hard to believe Icardi would be too upset about not getting a pass from those two teammates.
Icardi has made 31 appearances for PSG this season and scored 20 goals. That’s a fantastic return for a player on loan and with a €65 million option to buy, Icardi could become a permanent member of PSG this summer.
Unfortunately, if this report is true, you can expect Icardi to return to Italy to sort out his future at the end of his loan. With Cavani’s contract expiring in June, PSG will likely be in the market for a world-class striker this summer.
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