Mauro Icardi stripped of Inter Milan’s No9 shirt and captaincy after Romelu Lukaku transfer

MAURO Icardi's days at Inter Milan are numbered after his No9 shirt was handed to Romelu Lukaku.

The Argentine striker has been told he has no future at the San Siro following Antonio Conte's arrival.

Conte quickly decided that he wanted the ex-Manchester United man to lead the line and had to wait until deadline day to seal the deal.

He eventually switched for £73million and was unveiled with the No9 shirt after penning a five-year deal.

His arrival has pushed Icardi even further out the exit door with a trio of Serie A rivals ready to take him off their hands.

Napoli, Juventus and Roma are pursuing his signature but Icardi appears in no rush to make a decision on his future.

Conte, who stripped Icardi of his captaincy, did not hold back when discussing plans for his squad.

When quizzed on the player, the manager responded: "His situation is clear, as were the club.

"He's not part of the project."

Meanwhile Lukaku became the third-most expensive player of all time based on career transfer fees following his Italian switch. 

On top of his mega-money move to Italy, United splashed around £75m on Lukaku to bring him in from Everton in 2017.

According to figures from Transfermarkt, those moves - along with his moves from Anderlecht to Chelsea and the Blues to Everton, stick him third in the all-time most expensive player, with an overall tally of £183m.

Neymar leads the way on £279m, thanks mostly to his world-record £198m move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017.

Cristiano Ronaldo was in second with a total of £207m.