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Icardi was stripped of the captaincy and replaced by goalkeeper Samir Handanovic on Wednesday amid uncertainty over his future at the Serie A club following contract talks.

The 25-year-old, who has been linked with Real Madrid, Manchester United and Barcelona despite being contracted until 2021, was not in the squad for the Europa League clash against Rapid Vienna, while he was also absent for Sunday's 2-1 league win over Sampdoria.

Nara spoke about the situation on Monday (AEDT), saying: "Some say the armband is meaningless, but for Mauro it's like taking away a leg more than an arm.

"He wears that jersey with such pride and if there were decisions to be made in the past about money or love of the shirt, he always chooses the shirt.

"I had no warning at all. I am always in contact with Inter, I have them on speed dial, but I only found out about the decision to revoke his captaincy on Twitter.

"I had a three-hour meeting with people very high up in the club and they never told me anything about it.

"Mauro scored 120 goals with this jersey and when nobody believed, he was the first to pick up the ball and call everyone forward, because he believes in this team. We are a family of Interisti, whether he is on the field or not.

"Inter are my family, so when the incident happened with the rock, the first people I called were Inter. Mauro was asleep, as he had training in the afternoon, so I didn't know who else to call. We are here in Milan because of Inter."

Former Inter president Massimo Moratti contacted Nara after Icardi lost the captain's armband and she added: "He was very kind and I thank him, because Mauro was so upset. He was in terrible condition. When he's upset, he clams up and tries to bottle things up, tries to be the strong one.

"I asked Moratti if he could please help get Mauro to play again, because it means so much to him. It is not our intention to leave Inter, not at all."