There are so many directions in which the Mauro Icardi situation could go once the season concludes.
Paris Saint-Germain could simply pay the €70 million option-to-buy clause in the loan deal from Inter Milan and keep the 27-year-old striker. From there, PSG could plan to use him in their starting lineup next season with Edinson Cavani expected to depart, or, use Icardi in a swap deal to bring in other players.
PSG could also just let Icardi’s loan run its course and allow him to go back to Inter. That’s where things could get interesting if you’re an Arsenal fan because Inter has no intention of retaining him at all.
According to Tuttosport (via Le10Sport), Inter is keen on bringing Arsenal FC striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to the San Siro Stadium especially if they lose Lautaro Martinez to FC Barcelona. Icardi would then be used in a swap deal with Arsenal.
That’s a lot of moving parts but considering the financial impact of the coronavirus, swap deals like this are going to be more likely than clubs spending large amounts of cash to sign players.
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Swap deals are rare because swap deals are never actually swap deals.
Players are not ‘traded’ in football like they are in American sports like baseball, basketball, or football. Players negotiate a deal with their new club and the clubs negotiate fees or conditions of the transfers; independently.
All it takes to end this kind of deal is a perceived difference in value, a player deciding he does not want to be seen as worth the same as the other player, or even an agent not wanting his client to be seen as trade fodder.
The other part is, who in their right mind would want Icardi? He is a giant pain in the neck and has been everywhere he’s played. His agent/wife is constantly badmouthing his current club in the press, and Icardi seems unlikely to live up to the ‘word-class’ label.
Aubameyang is twice the player he is, and even if he wasn’t, his professionalism and obvious love of the game make him far easier to watch and root for.
I appreciate the comment and understand that “swap deals” aren’t like American sports but they’re not impossible and with the coronavirus we’re likely to see more of them.
Icardi may have been a giant pain in the neck at Inter but at PSG, he’s actually been a model citizen. No complaints with him whatsoever. Given his age, I would think Arsenal would be better off with him than Aubameyang who apparently wants out of North London.