According to Varzesh3, this decision came after controversial statements by Icardi’s then-wife and agent, Wanda Nara, which Spalletti said caused a major crisis in the Inter Milan locker room.

Spalletti wrote in his book titled ‘Paradise Exists, But It’s Hard to Reach’: “Mauro Icardi was our captain. An extraordinary striker in the box; a rare predator. I still remember his beautiful goals in derbies, especially that last-minute header from Vecino’s cross. Mauro was one of the key players in my Inter team.”

However, in Spalletti’s final season at Inter, off-field issues escalated, including Wanda Nara’s comments that caused tension among players. Spalletti wrote: “I realized our captain’s weakness had a name: Wanda. She was dragging the whole group down—something I couldn’t allow. Mauro was in a footballing slump. He wasn’t scoring like before. That’s when Wanda said if you want Icardi to score more, you need to sign better players to support him. That statement was like a bomb—it exploded the team. It wasn’t something you could erase with an Instagram story or a WhatsApp message. We had to solve it face-to-face, the old-fashioned way.”

Spalletti decided to confront Icardi: “The next day, in front of all the players, I asked him to explain Wanda’s comments. At least out of respect for his teammates. He replied that it wasn’t Wanda who said those things, but Nara—his agent, not his wife! The situation had become uncontrollable. There was no other way.”

Ultimately, Spalletti made a big decision: “I told him he had to give up the armband, and I gave it to Samir Handanovic. The club silently supported my decision. Icardi took it very badly. Very badly. But to preserve team unity, I lost Icardi.”

At the end of that season, both Spalletti and Icardi left Inter. Icardi moved to Paris Saint-Germain and has played for Galatasaray since 2022.