The rumor mill in the Italian football media has been swirling lately as word of Inter Milan’s pending sale has spread like wildfire across the football crazed country. But thus far the rumours seem to have no real basis and President Zhang himself has called them ‘entirely baseless.’ The Corriere dello Sport had made headlines by saying that the financial impact from the novel coronavirus pandemic has created a desire for President Zhang and the Suning Holdings Group to sell their stake in the storied football club.
Zhang and the Suning Holdings Group purchased their stake in Inter Milan back in 2016 and the club has seen moderate success over that time. After hiring former Juventus manager Antonio Conte in 2019, and attracting big name free agents like Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi, the club is still seeking a return to the top of the Serie A standings. Inter Milan does start the new year in second place, closely following inter-city rivals Milan by one point after winning its previous five matches. Inter Milan leads the Serie A in goals for this season and hosts last place Crotone in its first match of 2021. January 17th marks a huge match in Inter Milan’s calendar as they have a match with defending Serie A champion Juventus which should have a big impact on the final standings. As for the rumors of the Suning Holdings Group seeking a majority shareholder of Inter Milan, we can consider those to be just rumours until something more concrete is announced.
Chinese owners managed to put Inter back among Europe’s best clubs
Suning Holdings Group, a big Chinese company, has been top shareholder of the Internazionale. Steven Zhang, son of the Suning Holdings founder Zhang Jindong, is president since 2018, where he was appointed with only 27 years of age. Although some were sceptical about the new owners and young president Zhang, Inter managed to see a return to the Champions League after being absent for six long years, at the same time marking the highest league finish in the last nine years.
