Maxi López once again became a media protagonist thanks to an interview on the show Paren La Mano on Vorterix, where he combined humor, memories, and the occasional suggestive silence. Among anecdotes from his European days and his participation in MasterChef Celebrity, the former striker ended up talking about everything: his years in Russia, a failed move to Milan, his encounters with Italian barras, and, of course, his historic breakup with Mauro Icardi.
Why he still hasn't gotten into a fistfight with Icardi
Everything began when the former River player was asked about a fight between footballers that took place in Russia in 2007. López, laughing, imagined what would have happened if he had been there: "I wasn't there. I arrived in Russia later. I would've liked it, can you imagine if I had been there and if I had been, you know... how nice, mamita".
From that statement, the inevitable question arose: why was there never a physical confrontation with Icardi, not even during the years of greatest tension or in the encounters they had in Italy. Maxi was direct: "He was never alone. But well, it doesn't matter. He's in Argentina, he's spending time with the girls, let him go on with that".
When he was asked if at any point he ever "went looking for him", López just laughed before closing the topic: "I'm not going to talk about that yet. Today there's peace".
The warplane adventure and the 40 thousand dollars
In another segment, Maxi brought up one of his most extravagant anecdotes: the time he paid 40 thousand dollars to get on a military plane during his time at FC Moscow. "One day, I spoke with the translator and told him: 'I want to ride in a warplane'. Because in a conversation I had with the president, he told me: 'In this country, with money, you can do whatever you want'", he recounted in a conversation with the streaming show Paren la mano. When he asked, the translator tried to stop him: "I asked him if it was possible because I wanted to go to a military base and he said: 'No, I'm not getting involved in this one'".
Even so, he decided to move forward on his own: "I go and talk to the President. 'You told me I can do...'. Besides, I was scoring goals. He called someone, it took 30 seconds and he told me: 'Tomorrow you're at the military base'. I went for it".
The story moved on to the moment when he finally arrived at the place: "Inside the military base, two guys started talking to me, I didn't understand anything. They started showing me in Russian how I had to get ready, but I didn't understand anything. 'Dude, I already put up the cash, open that plane and let's go for a ride. Does it go fast? I almost crapped myself. The experience was exactly what I wanted'".
In the middle of the anecdote, a question from host Luquitas Rodríguez led to a humorous detour: "Didn't you ask Wanda (Nara) before spending the money?". The former striker's response quickly caused laughter in the studio: "You have no idea what was going out the other way. This was just coffee, ha".
Ultras, stun grenades, and the transfer that never happened
Later on, the former footballer recalled his first spell between 2010 and 2012 at Catania in Italy, where he experienced one of the most tense moments of his career and where he was even on the verge of joining a Calcio giant. "I was loved, we saved the club from relegation and set a points record. I already had everything agreed with Milan. At the last moment, the president called off the deal and told me to stay in Catania".
That decision triggered an unexpected scenario in his daily life, with episodes of harassment that lasted for months. According to his account, visits from the ultras to his home became frequent: "He took care of me for six months, he sent the guys to my house... One day, they show up at my house, they start throwing stun grenades and I had little kids. So, I go out angry and the Curva Sud bosses were there. I confronted them and told them I knew who they were: 'You come to mess with me at home, I have the kids sleeping, why are you throwing bombs?'".
The former footballer said that, in that confrontation, he learned the reason behind the harassment: "They were really pissed off. The boss told me: 'Look, the president is paying us to mess with you'". In the tense atmosphere, he tried to calm things down through dialogue: "I told them I understood, I offered them beer, told them to leave, when you come to training it's fine, but not at my house. They understood and never came back".
His memory of Ronaldinho
Among his brightest stories was his time at Barcelona and his time living with Ronaldinho, whom he described as a phenomenon both on and off the field.
"There are 1,000 stories, we'd need a month to tell everything. It's another level. He was a star as a person, totally different. It was a show having him as a teammate. We were all sitting in the locker room and the guy would grab the ball and start doing things...", he recalled.
