Berlusconi: I owe sale to Milan

Silvio Berlusconi claims he owes “one final gesture” to Milan fans before bowing out – “finding a successor who can bring the club to an international standard”.

Berlusconi is currently in talks with a Chinese consortium, the identity of whom have recently become known to the President, and he is keen for them to commit to the club for the long haul.

“I think it’s time to hand over [the reins], after 30 years in which we’ve won 28 trophies,” he told Teleregione Molise.

Silvio Berlusconi claims he owes “one final gesture” to Milan fans before bowing out – “finding a successor who can bring the club to an international standard”.

Berlusconi is currently in talks with a Chinese consortium, the identity of whom have recently become known to the President, and he is keen for them to commit to the club for the long haul.

“I think it’s time to hand over [the reins], after 30 years in which we’ve won 28 trophies,” he told Teleregione Molise.

“I’m the President who has won the most in the history of football and now I have to make one final gesture before leaving: finding a successor who can bring the Milan to an international standard.

“With the money from oil, players have based their judgments on Monopoly. For example, we’re talking about an offer of €15m net and €30m gross for [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic.

“It’s necessary to find people who intend to bring Milan up to high levels in Italy, Europe and beyond. They must guarantee investments every year.

“That’s why we’ve been negotiating with several companies and Chinese funds for some time: we know their names and, through those who are handling the negotiations, we’ve received excellent references. I hope we can get them to sign a commitment that would last for several years.

“They’ve asked me to stay on as President for three more years because they’ve said that my brand is very strong in China, where Milan have 243 million fans.

“If this, our last attempt to find a successor, falls through then I’d have to stay with a different solution, [building] a team of young Italians and young players who come from our youth academy, such as [Gianluigi] Donnarumma, who is just 17 ​​years old but still a great goalkeeper.

“We must ask the fans to be patient, even though it’s not always easy for them, [especially] those who can’t remember what Milan have done in the last 30 years.”