Free agent Mauro Icardi speaks out: “Me, unemployed? I’m a free agent.”
Mauro Icardi has been a free agent since July 16, 2026, when he left Galatasaray after four seasons. Since then, the Argentine forward has faced various setbacks—not least the extremely long suspension of his driver’s license—but he hasn’t given up his trademark penchant for controversy. This is clearly evident when visiting his Instagram profile, where he is seen training alone in a series of black-and-white photos accompanied by a caption that gets straight to the point: the former Inter captain considers his career to be anything but on the decline.
“They confuse unemployment with failure; I call it a settled life. They confuse being without a contract with having no alternatives; I call it freedom of choice. I’ve worked to be the master of my own time, to have a secure future. If I stopped working, my life would go on as usual. I don’t understand their concerns for me. Live serenely, live in peace, and with lots of love. I already have everything,” are the words Icardi used to accompany his post.
As for his driver’s license, the situation has taken a grotesque turn. A video posted on social media by his partner, China Suarez, showed Icardi driving a car with an expired license, prompting the Argentine Ministry of Transportation to intervene and issue a preventive driving ban until January 1, 2099 — by which time the striker would be 105 years old. Icardi did not take this lying down, publicly contesting the measure and claiming to hold an Italian driver’s license valid until 2029. “Focus on fixing the roads to improve traffic in our country instead of wasting time writing tweets,” he lashed out, adding: “What kind of suspension are you trying to come up with? It seems strange that you’re hounding me like this just to get some media attention.”
Controversy aside, Maurito’s soccer future remains the main topic. In recent weeks, his name has been circulating heavily in Serie A, where Lazio and Parma had made concrete offers. Lazio, in particular, had launched an intense courtship, with sporting director Fabiani determined to give Gennaro Gattuso a top-tier reinforcement up front following the arrivals of Pinamonti and Gudmundsson. The player’s agent had expressed openness to the Rome option: “Mauro and I are evaluating the best project—a life project, not just a financial one. Mauro wants to choose a beautiful city and a great club.” The Argentine was reportedly offered a contract worth 3.5 million euros per season through 2028, a figure still deemed insufficient by the player’s entourage.
However, negotiations with Lazio stalled definitively when Gattuso flatly vetoed the move. “No one disputes the value of a player who has scored more than 250 goals in his career, but we’ve already signed Pinamonti and Gudmundsson—adding Icardi on top of that would have tied us up in knots,” the Calabrian coach stated on the eve of the match against Venezia. “There’s no point in signing players if you’re just going to bench them,” he added, effectively closing any door to a move to the capital.
With a move to Serie A now seemingly out of reach, there’s no shortage of alternatives. Rumors are persistently circulating from England that Roberto De Zerbi’s Tottenham is interested, as they seek offensive solutions following a difficult start to the season. The Spurs are reportedly evaluating the striker’s experience and goal-scoring instinct; throughout his career, he has won titles with Paris Saint-Germain and Galatasaray, in addition to two Serie A top-scorer titles with Inter in 2015 and 2018. In the background, there’s also interest from South America, with São Paulo dreaming of bringing him to Brazil. Icardi, for his part, continues to train and wait—in his own way.
