Real Madrid spent many years searching for a backup striker for the French star Karim Benzema, and the future of the royal attack would be in the long term.

Real relied on Mariano Diaz and Luka Jovic as backup strikers in the past two seasons, but Los Blancos had previously monitored several No. 9 players, such as Uruguayan Edinson Cavani and Argentine Mauro Icardi.

Icardi was put on Real Madrid's radar in the transfer market for the 2017 and 2018 seasons, as he was studying the possibility of making an offer for the Inter Milan striker at the time.

The Argentine was at the best level of his career in the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 seasons, when he scored 26 and 29 goals, respectively, in all competitions with the Nerazzurri.

But since then, a lot has changed, as Icardi left Inter after having problems with the club and moved to Paris Saint-Germain in 2019, initially on loan, before joining permanently.

Despite the Paris side paying €50m for the 28-year-old, Icardi struggled to retain a regular place in the starting line-up, as evidenced by his seven disappointing goals in 23 games last season.

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Why did Real Madrid decide not to include Icardi from Inter?

The main reason is not in Madrid or Milan, but in the closest people to the Argentine striker, his wife and business manager, Argentine Wanda Nara.

Sources in the "Santiago Bernabeu" justified not contracting him at the time, saying that after watching "Wanda" participating in an Italian television program, "we cannot contract this player and this is not his fault."

Real was not impressed or satisfied with those close to Icardi, as the player and his wife exaggerate in revealing the details of their lives and their problems to the public.

After several years, it was found that Real Madrid made the right decision, as the couple raised the controversy again, and Icardi missed training sessions and matches and traveled to Milan to apologize to his wife and try to save his marriage, after she found out that he had deceived her, so she made the decision to leave Paris without even informing him.

The two parties published photos and publications on their Instagram account, which included "Wanda" accusing Icardi of treason and that she left him, in return he was publishing letters of apology to her and pictures of them showing that their relationship had returned to normal.

It is noteworthy that Icardi married "Wanda" after she separated from her husband, former Argentine player Maxi Lopez, who was a colleague of Icardi in Sampdoria and a close friend of the family, and Lopez contributed greatly to Icardi's arrival in Italy.

When the two players faced each other later in a Serie A match, Lopez refused to shake hands with Icardi, considering that he "stole his wife and children from him."