Inter Milan chief pleased to end extended rift with Mauro Icardi

Inter Milan CEO Beppe Marotta has expressed his pleasure after the club decided to re-engage Mauro Icardi into first-team action with the club. The Argentine had been out of Nerazzurri duty for nearly two months after being stripped of the captaincy, but he made a much-anticipated comeback against Genoa, where he starred in a 3-0 victory.

Speaking about Icardi, Marotta said that Icardi’s return to the mix was triggered by the professionalism shown by the Argentine in training. He added that the club are prepared to move on from the recent rift with the marksman and concentrate on building a winning run for the rest of the campaign.

He said: “Icardi’s return to the team has been achieved thanks to his application and professionalism in training. It’s now time to put everything behind us and look to the present and the future with great optimism. We must act as a team with the aim of winning. We must put aside any possible tensions because we want to send a strong message: no the culture of excuses.”

Icardi made an instant mark for the Nerazzurri by converting a penalty before assisting Ivan Perisic’s goal. Still, there remains the sense of anger and anguish from the club’s ultras over the striker’s behaviour over the past few months, and the Argentine has the responsibility to win over the supporters once more with standout displays.

Inter are currently third on the table with 56 points and they have a comfortable eight-point gap over the likes of Atalanta and Lazio, who are currently outside of the top four. Despite this, they can’t afford to rest on their laurels, given they have testing challenges against the likes of Juventus, Roma, Atalanta and Napoli before the season concludes. Inter are scheduled to face Atalanta at San Siro on Sunday.