Inter Corporate CEO Alessandro Antonello assures fans celebrating the Scudetto that ‘the ownership is solid’ and Steven Zhang will remain in charge.
The Nerazzurri are going through the city streets on two open top buses to mark their 20th Serie A title, which was earned with five rounds to spare.
“This is truly the party for Interisti and seeing these huge crowds come out repays us for all the work done over the years,” Antonello told Sky Sport Italia.
“My time at Inter started nine years ago, we laid the foundations and Beppe Marotta gave a boost to the sporting results. We achieved results that Inter had not seen for a long time.”
It was achieved despite slashing the budget, as players were sold on at big profits and others brought in to take their place.
“Sustainability and sporting performance must coexist, but not penalise the club. We proved that you can get results while working sustainably, we can build something important and dream big, but sustainability must always be at the core of it.”
President Steven Zhang and other members of his family who run parent company Suning are not in Italy to enjoy the Scudetto celebrations, as time is running out for them to secure a refinancing deal.
If they do not repay the €375m including interest loan to Oaktree by the deadline of May 20, then the American fund could take control of Inter.
“Zhang has given his managers the ability to do our work and we are fortunate to have someone like him. The only disappointment is that he cannot be here with us now, but he will be here soon.”
Antonello was pushed for any news on the situation, amid reports last week that a deal was imminent with another American fund to take out a new loan.
“The news I want to give is that the club ownership is solid. Negotiations are in progress, I see no critical issues. So the fans need to relax, tonight we celebrate.”
Inter working on stadium
Part of the plans for Suning with Inter is building a new stadium in Rozzano, although the local council continues to push the idea of reconstructing the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.
“A modern infrastructure is essential and the city of Milan deserves a modern stadium. We are working on various fronts, the one we have the most control over is Rozzano. We’re waiting to see what WeBuild say about San Siro, but we need an arena at the vanguard that guarantees revenue we can then reinvest in the squad.
“Regardless of the future of the club, we will continue to work on a new stadium,” added Antonello.