Report: Icardi Issues Ultimatum, Will Say "Yes”to Roma if No Juve Offer Comes

In all my years covering transfer rumors, I can honestly say I've never encountered a summer quite like this, one in which the futures of a half-dozen clubs and anywhere form 10 to 12 players has been so inextricably linked. The fates of clubs as varied as Roma, Napoli, Juventus, Inter Milan, Spurs and Manchester United have been tied up in a market featuring the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Gonzalo Higuain, Paulo Dybala, Mario Mandzukic, Gonzalo Higuain, Edin Dzeko and Mauro Icardi, each of whom was seemingly torn between two (and in some cases three) clubs all summer long, grinding the transfer market to a halt in the process.

However, as we cautioned all along once that Lukaku domino fell, the rest should gently fall into place shortly thereafter. Well, maybe not gently per se, but the market should sort itself out over the next two weeks or so. For a minute it looked like the Paulo Dybala to Spurs saga would replace Lukaku on the front pages, but thanks to the always annoying prospect of image rights, that deal fell through.

And, in case you hadn't noticed, Mauro Icardi has been more than willing to fill the void in the press once occupied by the Lukaku and Dybala transfer messes. By now you know the story—Icardi has no place in Antonio Conte's Inter and, despite overtures from Roma, Napoli, PSG and even Monaco, Mauro seems to have his heart set on a move to Juventus, who, at least based on the rumor mill, haven't exactly responded in kind.

All of which puts Mauro in sort of a pickle: It's Roma or Bust, whether he likes it or not.

According to SportMediaSet, Icardi has issued an ultimatum of sorts to the rest of Italy: If a Juventus offer does not arrive by early next week, he will move to Roma. On that point, it appears as though some progress has been made between Roma and Icardi's reps, with Roma offering a €7.5 million salary per season plus bonuses. If that is indeed the case, and Icardi is true to his word and will move to Rome, then all that remains is Roma and Inter hashing out how much cash the Giallorossi would have to send along with Edin Dzeko to complete the deal.

This could simply be a bargaining ploy from Icardi, but if nothing else it should stall the striker market for another week, so expect plenty of micro-updates along the way.

Now, the question we have to ask ourselves is simply this: Is Mauro Icardi worth the wait?