Report: Roma May Look to Icardi as Dzeko Replacement

The strange career of Mauro Icardi seems set for another twist. Two years after successfully engineering a move away from Inter Milan, a club for whom he scored 121 goals in just over 200 appearances, Icardi could be on the move again. Icardi may have been able to successfully negotiate his way out of Inter but he hasn't exactly hit the ground running with PSG, scoring 22 goals in 53 appearances in all competitions.

Speaking of competition, while Icardi may have seemed like a natural fit to lead the line for PSG, he's fallen behind Moise Kean in the striker pecking order at the Parc des Princes, leading many to speculate about his future in the French capital.

As you may recall, Roma were one of the many teams linked with Icardi in the summer of 2019 and may have been a “favorite”, or at least Icardi's negotiating leverage against the rest of the league while he secretly tried to make his way to Juventus. Icardi was one of 10 to 12 strikers caught up in an interconnected rumor web that summer, one that ensnared players like Gonzalo Higuain, Edin Dzeko, Mario Mandzukic, Paulo Dybala, and Romelu Lukaku, to name a few.

In the end, Lukaku was the only player who actually wound up signing with their rumored suitor, while Icardi's ultimatum to the rest of the league ultimately amounted to nothing as Serie A had their fill of the Argentinian striker, who signed with PSG on September 2, 2019.

But, here we are two years later and not much has changed. Roma and Edin Dzeko are still engaged in a cold war, though it almost boiled over after Dzeko was stripped of the captaincy by Paulo Fonseca, while PSG are looking to trim their wage bill by offloading Icardi, among other players.

And according to the latest rumors, Icardi may be sucked into Roma's transfer orbit once again:

According to the Corriere dello Sport, if Roma does indeed move on from Edin Dzeko this summer, Mauro Icardi's name could be on the top of Tiago Pinto's wishlist. While his salary is an issue, the CdS reports that PSG would be amenable to a loan with an option to buy, which might make it easier for Roma to swallow Icardi's salary.

Still just 28-years-old, Icardi has a lot of football ahead of him and has, despite not looking quite as prolific in Paris, averaged 0.49 goals per 90 minutes through 15 Ligue 1 appearances this season.

If Roma part ways with Dzeko this summer, Icardi should join the likes of Andrea Belotti and Dusan Vlahovic on Roma's rumored shopping list.