Add to Preferred Sources

Everton appear to be passing up on the opportunity to sign Mauro Icardi, with the striker now considering several other options in Europe.

That’s according to TyC Sports, who previously reported that Icardi had been formally offered to the Toffees.

Their latest update still mentions Everton, but there’s no suggestion anything has moved forward on that front. Instead, Icardi is now said to be weighing up approaches elsewhere.

That would suggest Everton haven’t taken the opportunity any further, at least for now.

Icardi looking elsewhere

TyC Sports say Olympiacos and PAOK have both made offers to the 33-year-old. Italy is another possibility, with Lazio and Parma in the picture.

Lazio have gone furthest. They initially offered Icardi €2.5m (£2.2m) for one season before improving that to a two-year contract worth €3m (£2.6m) annually.

Even that wasn’t enough to get an agreement. Icardi’s representative, Letterio Pino, says they decided to put those negotiations on hold.

“There was a possibility, Fabiani was very kind, but we said to ourselves: let’s wait a moment, let’s stop,” he explained.

Elche have also asked for information about the striker. There’s no similar update regarding Everton. TyC simply repeat that Icardi was formally offered to the Premier League club.

For the moment, it looks like the Toffees aren’t rushing to take up that opportunity.

Retirement talk already looks questionable

Mauro Icardi sat on the bench

There’s another interesting part to all this. We covered reports from Turkey on Wednesday that claimed Icardi had stopped training individually and no longer wanted to play for any club. They even said the Argentine could announce his retirement in the coming days.

The picture coming from Argentina now looks very different. Icardi’s agent says his client is looking for some stability with his next move.

“Money isn’t the priority. He’s looking for a sporting project and the possibility of staying somewhere for two or three years,” Pino said.

That doesn’t exactly sound like someone preparing to retire. TyC also present Icardi as actively considering his options, with several clubs trying to convince him.

There’s clearly conflicting information around the striker right now, so the retirement claims deserve some caution.

As for Everton, they seemingly had their chance put directly in front of them. With Icardi now looking at projects in Greece and Italy, there isn’t much indication they’re taking it.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR