Inter get ready to face their first Europa League match of the season against Rapid Wien without Mauro Icardi. The Argentinian striker won't travel with the squad to Austria after being replaced by Handanovic as captain of the Nerazzurri.
The decision to strip Icardi of the captain's armband was made by the club together with the coach Luciano Spalletti. The decision, painful yet made for Inter's good, has little to do with the uncertainty around the contract extension.
The reasons why Icardi is no longer Inter's captain concern Icardi's behaviour and his management of the captain role. The Argentine is a kind of captain that doesn't talk much in the dressing room and that rarely speaks up, especially when it comes to his personal situation and the relationship between him and his wife and agent Wanda Nara. For this and other reasons, after carefully pondering the situation, the club has decided to appoint Samir Handanovic as new captain, as they consider him being more suitable for the role of Nerazzurri's skipper right now.
