Paris Saint-Germain forward Mauro Icardi has denied rumors of a rift with fellow Argentine Lionel Messi supposedly stemming from Icardi’s relationship with wife and agent Wanda Nara.
Recent reports had claimed Icardi had not been afforded a warm welcome at new club PSG – where he has moved on loan from Inter Milan – due to his relationship with wife Nara.
Icardi, 26, and Nara, 32, got together after the model-turned-football agent split with Icardi’s former Sampdoria teammate Maxi Lopez, who also hails from Argentina.
There were claims that the Argentine contingent at PSG – which includes Angel Di Maria and Leandro Paredes – were less than enthusiastic over Icardi joining the club due to their loyalty to Lopez.
There was also said to be a rift with Argentine national team skipper Messi – who is also friends with Lopez.
But speaking to Canal+, Icardi dismissed those notions.
"I knew [Messi] at Barcelona years ago. I let people talk. These are things we cannot avoid,” he said.
"I do not believe in these stories. I was able to meet [Messi], he is the best player in the world. I appreciate him enormously.
"Those who know me know who I really am, and that's all that matters... Wanda is famous, I am too. But that does not affect my game. Otherwise I would not have played for Inter and scored 150 goals. We try to live our relationship as best as possible.
“We are both in love. And we do not choose who we fall in love with, it's like that," he added.
Wanda Nara helped negotiate her husband’s loan move to PSG – which could be made permanent – amid increasingly fractious relations at Inter.
Nara had been accused by some of stirring discontent in the dressing room as her husband was stripped of the captaincy last season.
One Italian TV pundit even said that “Hitler would be scared of her” due to her formidable personality.
Also on rt.com ‘Hitler would be scared of her’: Italian journalist courts controversy with Wanda Nara commentsNara and Icardi wed in 2014 and have two children together, while she also has three sons from her relationship with Lopez.
While hands-on with her work as her husband’s agent, Nara frequently finds the time to share modelling snaps – most recently a series of nude images as she settles in to life in Paris with her husband and family.