Mauro Icardi killed and ATE pigeon after using homemade slingshot at Barcelona academy, claims former team-mate
The Argentine joined La Masia as a fifteen-year-old after being spotted playing for a club from the Canary Islands.
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Sergi Gomez, who went on to play for Sevilla and Espanyol, shared an apartment with Icardi, future Stoke star Marc Muniesa and Champions League winner Sergi Roberto.
And he told Spanish podcast Post United: "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?'
"He grabbed a rock, stretched the rubber band, and... boom.
"He brought down the pigeon from a height of 20 or 30 metres.
"We went back, 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?'"
Mauro Icardi shows his skills at the Barcelona youth academy
Icardi, now 32, is currently going through divorce proceedings with wife and former agent Wanda Nara.
The striker accuses Nara of infidelity, which could lead to her having to pay alimony if found to be the reason for the divorce.
The estranged couple have two daughters together - Francesca, 10, and Isabella, 8.
But Gomez was positive about his former team-mate as a person.
He said: "We lived through a lot together, and if he sees me, he'll know that I hold that in my heart."
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