Mauro Icardi Offered to Everton as Free Agent
Everton’s search for a centre-forward has taken a familiar turn: late, urgent, and now potentially star-studded. Mauro Icardi, once the ruthless finisher at the heart of Inter Milan’s attack, has been offered to the club as a free agent and is under consideration by David Moyes.
The need is obvious. Thierno Barry is the only natural number nine in the senior squad, and he is learning the role under the harshest of spotlights. The failed deadline-day move for Folarin Balogun has left Everton exposed and hunting in a restricted market. They are now trawling the list of unattached players, and Icardi’s name sits near the top.
TyC Sports journalist German Garcia Grova reported on 7 September that the Argentine has been proposed to the Merseyside club, with his camp open to a move to the Premier League. For Icardi, it would be a first taste of English football after a career spent on the continent.
At 33, he is no longer the explosive focal point who terrorised Serie A defences, but he remains a specialist in the one thing Everton lack most: goals. His last contract, with Galatasaray, expired at the end of the 2025-26 season, yet his final campaign in Istanbul underlined that his instincts have not dulled.
Sixteen goals in all competitions.
Fourteen of those in the Super Lig.
A conversion rate of 24 per cent and an overperformance on his xG of 10.53, according to Sofascore.
He did much of that damage from the bench, with Victor Osimhen preferred as the starting striker, but Icardi still found ways to decide games. He also faced top-level opposition, including Liverpool and Juventus in the Champions League, and handled the stage with the assurance of a player who has been there many times before.
This is what will tempt Moyes. Everton do not need a project up front; they already have one in Barry, who has been wasteful in recent matches and is still piecing together the craft of elite finishing. What they lack is a penalty-box predator who needs only a half-chance and a yard of space.
Icardi does not bring pace. He will not stretch defences or dazzle with dribbles. What he offers is movement in tight spaces, timing, and a calm head when the ball drops in the area. For a side that often struggles to turn pressure into goals, that profile carries real weight.
The question now is timing. Everton can act immediately and bring him in as a free agent, or they can wait until January and see if a younger, more long-term solution becomes available. That delay, though, risks another stretch of the season with Barry as the lone senior option and precious points slipping away.
Icardi to Everton would not be a romantic, long-term rebuild signing. It would be a calculated, short-to-medium term move: a proven finisher asked to squeeze one more decisive chapter out of a career already packed with goals.
Moyes must decide whether that is exactly what this Everton side needs right now.
