“Ate it in front of me” - Former Barcelona defender reveals bizarre incident where Mauro Icardi killed and ate pigeon in front of him at La Masia

Mauro Icardi has found himself in the middle of a bizarre throwback incident that was recently revealed by ex-Barcelona defender Sergi Gomez. Speaking on a podcast, via SportBible, Gomez mentioned that Icardi once ate a pigeon that he had killed using a slingshot at a park in Barcelona.

This incident happened back in the day when Gomez and Icardi were both at Barcelona's famous academy, La Masia. Gomez also revealed that he, Icardi, Marc Muniesa and Sergi Roberto used to share an apartment in those days. The Argentine attacker had arrived at Barcelona ahead of the 2008-09 season.

Gomez recollected that Icardi asked him to accompany him to a park close to La Masia one day, where he proceeded to shoot a pigeon down with his slingshot, pluck its feathers out and then roast it over a fire to eat.

"Mauro arrived at La Masía and we were teammates for three or four seasons. During one of those seasons, we shared an apartment. One day he said to me: 'Sergi, come with me to the park next door.' He was carrying a Y-shaped piece of wood that he had cut the day before, with a rubber band tied to it. He had made a homemade slingshot. We went to the park, and he pointed to a very tall pine tree and said, 'See up there?' I saw the pine cones, but he insisted, 'No, higher up.' And there was a pigeon that was barely visible," said Gomez.

“He grabbed a rock, stretched the rubber band, and... boom. He brought down the pigeon from a height of 20 or 30 meters. We went back to La Masía, he plucked its feathers, threaded a wire through it, lit a fire, and ate it in front of me. I remember thinking: ‘What awaits me if we start like this'. We lived through a lot together, and if he sees me, he’ll know that I hold that in my heart,” he added.

---

Mauro Icardi left Barcelona in 2012

Icardi left Barcelona in 2011 to sign with Italian club Sampdoria. According to a report, Barca's then-style of playing football did not suit Icardi, and he chose to make the shift to Serie A instead. Notably, he did not make his senior debut for La Blaugrana.

Back then, Barcelona preferred to play their out-and-out strikers on the wings, as was seen with Samuel Eto'o, David Villa and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. However, Icardi did not like this and chose to move to Sampdoria instead.

From Sampdoria, Icardi moved to Inter Milan, where he scored 124 goals in 219 appearances. He then signed for Paris Saint-Germain, where he won the Ligue 1 title on two occasions. Currently, he is with Turkish club Galatasaray.

Being the product of Barca's famed academy has left an indelible impression on Icardi's style of playing, and he remains, at 32, still a major force to reckon with. For Galatasaray, he has scored 61 goals so far.