Mauro Icardi’s former wife and agent, Wanda Nara, recently encountered Juventus head coach Luciano Spalletti in Turin. This unexpected meeting took place seven years after a notable clash between the striker and the Italian tactician, with Nara expressing, “Nice to see you again.”
Nara shared two images on her Instagram stories, documenting her reunion with the current Bianconeri boss. Her brief caption on the first picture simply read: “Nice to see you again, mister.”
A Look Back at the Inter Milan Fallout
The last time Wanda Nara and Spalletti’s paths crossed was in 2019, when Icardi played under Spalletti at Inter Milan. At that time, Nara served as Icardi’s representative and had caused considerable friction within Inter and with Spalletti through what were described as provocative statements on Italian television.
The Icardi, Nara, and Spalletti Dispute at Inter
In his biography, published last year, Spalletti offered his account of the events involving Icardi and Nara.
Spalletti recounted that Icardi was experiencing a difficult period on the field, struggling to score as frequently as usual. Nara then suggested that for Icardi to improve his goal-scoring, the club needed to acquire different, better players to support him. Spalletti deemed this statement “unbearable” and a “bombshell,” necessitating a direct confrontation rather than informal communication.
He explained that the only way to avert a dressing-room conflict was an apology from Mauro Icardi, which never materialized. Spalletti requested that Icardi explain and justify Nara’s comments to his teammates. Icardi’s response was that it was his agent, Nara, who had spoken in her professional capacity, not his wife, Wanda. This made the situation unmanageable for the coach.
Consequently, Spalletti felt compelled to remove Icardi’s captain’s armband and entrust it to Handanovic, a decision supported by the club. Icardi reacted very negatively to this. As Spalletti put it, to maintain team unity, he “lost Icardi, the man and the player.”
In February 2019, following Inter’s decision to strip him of the captaincy, Icardi refused to travel with the team for a Europa League away fixture against Rapid Wien. He was subsequently excluded from the squad for over a month. In April, after a home defeat to Lazio, Spalletti publicly stated that “negotiating with a player to make him play and wear the Inter jersey is humiliating” for the club and his teammates. He emphasized that Icardi’s exclusion was a direct consequence of his conduct.
Icardi was eventually reintegrated for the final nine games of the season, scoring two goals, but he never regained the captain’s armband.
Both Mauro Icardi and Luciano Spalletti departed Inter Milan at the conclusion of the 2018-19 season. Icardi moved to PSG, where he scored 38 goals in 92 appearances over three seasons, a contrast to his more prolific spell at Inter where he netted 124 goals in 219 matches.
