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Arsenal have been dealt a blow in their pursuit of Argentina and Inter Milan forward Mauro Icardi, with new Inter Milan coach Frank de Boer claiming the 23 year old is not for sale.
Former Netherlands international De Boer was today unveiled as Roberto Mancini’s replacement at the San Siro, and the former Ajax boss, in his first press conference, revealed his ambitions for the club to be targeting Champions League football next season, with Icardi a key player in achieving those ambitions.
“I want to thank Inter for having appointed me at this great big club; I want to bring this club to where they should be. I’m really happy to be here and I can’t wait to meet the players and also the rest of the staff here.”
“The season starts in two weeks’ time and we’re very excited and have to work hard. Of course it’s not an ideal situation, that’s clear, but still we have a very talented and experienced team. I’m pleased with what we have. We will be at one with the team and they need to believe in our philosophy like we believe in them.”
“First of all we don’t want to sell our key players for sure and Icardi is very important and I want to keep all of our important players, of course we analysed the squad very carefully, but we’ve got to see how things develop. I want everybody to stay right now and then in a few weeks we will see if we need anything else.”
With Danny Welbeck ruled out for most of the season, Arsenal were thought to be keen on bringing Icardi, who has scored 52 goals for Inter Milan in 204 appearances, to North London.
However, it now appears Arsene Wenger will have to look for an alternative option.
