Luciano Spalletti reiterated Mauro Icardi still has some steps to take before he can be welcomed back, but he did “appreciate” the striker’s presence as Inter beat Sampdoria.

The forward has pulled out of both games since he was stripped of the captaincy on Wednesday, officially due to a knee injury, but he was in the stands with wife and agent Wanda Nara for this evening’s 2-1 victory.

Luciano Spalletti reiterated Mauro Icardi still has some steps to take before he can be welcomed back, but he did “appreciate” the striker’s presence as Inter beat Sampdoria.

The forward has pulled out of both games since he was stripped of the captaincy on Wednesday, officially due to a knee injury, but he was in the stands with wife and agent Wanda Nara for this evening’s 2-1 victory.

“I very much appreciated that he was in the stadium and I would’ve appreciated it even more if he had come into the locker room afterwards to celebrate with us, as it was a very important victory for the team and he is part of this group, so I imagine he was as happy with the win as we were,” the Coach told Sky Sport Italia.

Director Beppe Marotta said today that the decision to remove the armband from Icardi “had nothing to do with the contract,” so the details remain extremely vague.

“We want a return to normality. In a team, in a locker room, you spend time together, you chat about this and that, you need to all be working in the same direction.

“There are more steps to be made, which are for him to come to the locker room, to enjoy being a part of this very good group, to relish wearing the glorious jersey of a club like Inter, that sort of thing.”

As for the match, this was the third competitive victory in a row, all by one-goal margins.

“We were a little timid in the first half and Samp are so good at moving the ball around, making you chase after it. We have to take all our individual qualities and pour them into the team as a unit.

“I really liked the applause from our fans after the equaliser, as they urged us to get right back on track and gave us strength in that difficult moment.

“It’s just frustrating that we keep having to get tied up in all this talk around Inter. I’ve had some situations in my career with a lot of attention, but never like this.

“The victory is a sign of maturity, so we can begin to perforate this mountain of words that is constantly spouted about Inter.”

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