After buying a majority stake in Newcastle, Saudi investment fund PIF is reportedly ready to invest €1 billion to acquire Inter, but sources close to the Nerazzurri deny reports that the club will be sold.

According to Libero newspaper, talks between Suning and the Saudi investment fund are at an advanced stage.

PIF has just acquired 80% of the shares in the Premier League club for circa €350m and according to the report, it is now ready for a bigger investment.

Negotiations with Suning had begun last year, but were put on hold with the announcement of the Super League in April.

Now, the two parties are negotiating again and, according to the report, there was a meeting on September 15, on the same day of Inter’s Champions League clash against Real Madrid.

An offer in the region of € 1 billion is on the table and the Zhang family is reportedly ‘tempted’ to accept it given the dire financial situation of Suning and, therefore, the Serie A club.

However, La Repubblica correspondent Franco Vanni provided an update on Twitter, writing that sources close to the club deny Inter will be sold.

“Some say ‘there is nothing’ while others go with: ‘Perhaps it’s just a rumour to push the Newcastle deal,'” Vanni wrote.

Surely, the Nerazzurri are not in an ideal financial situation as they had to sell Achraf Hakimi and Romelu Lukaku to balance the books last summer.

Earlier in May, Suning completed a financing operation for a €275m loan from Oaktree Capital for Inter, with three years to pay it back.

14 thought on “PIF ready to complete €1 billion Inter takeover?”
  1. Difficult one this. Suning should sell and leave since the crackdown from the Chinese govt – they are hamstrung. But to the Saudi’s and their record??

  2. Juventino here. Let’s assume for one second there’s any truth to it… that would be a real bummer, honestly. Not because I hate Inter (I actually don’t as I respect “our” rivals), but because for what it means to be taken over by some random rich Saudi investment fund. Sure, Inter would have a lot of money to spend but as a fan I’d be pissed if this happened to Juve, too. To me, in football there’s more than money. Ethics, morale, identification… these things do matter (to some fans at least). Just at look at PIF and the people running it. Disgusting. I’d seriously stop supporting such a team.

  3. @Romanzo1897: i understand your points and you are correct. Unfortunately at this stage, i am so sick and tired of SerieA in general being the poor paupers of europe with their poor infrastructure, poor teams etc that i would welcome investment. Not just in this case but im starting to wish more clubs would be taken over with some money to spend. It would be great to see some of the worlds best come back to SerieA

  4. Inter (and Milan) would not be in such terrible financial state if they were not hamstrung by corrupt platini’s Farcical Fair Play for a decade – keeping them from reaching the CL – that idea worked great didnt it Platini? it allowed Juventus to dominate for a decade and forced Inter to sign the likes of Gargano and Scholloto. football sold its soul decades ago, this, which I believe to be more than a rumour is only the next tiny step in the grand scheme of things. Was any supporter of the super league clubs going to stop supporting them because they were taking part? No? Thought so.

  5. @Romanzo1897 Well said. I can’t blame the fans for being excited by a huge influx of money, as with Newcastle recently but the people behind this have an appalling human rights record. And don’t forget Jamal Khashoggi. MBS is running this, indirectly, yes but this line about PIF being separate from the Saudi state is total BS.

    Its sportswashing, plain and simple.

  6. @UrbanSombrero: “Was any supporter of the super league clubs going to stop supporting them because they were taking part? No? Thought so.”

    I can only speak on my behalf (and my friends as they mostly support Juve, Inter, Napoli, Barca and Milan), but our enthusiasm for CL, Serie A and football in general took a massive hit. Granted, being a life-long tifoso means you can never let go of your favorite club 100%, but watching football hasn’t been the same ever since. Believe it or not, but it took me months to actually get SOME of that enthusiasm back. And I was shocked how little I cared for Juve’s early CL exit and them missing out on the scudetto. I’m sure I’m not alone here.

  7. @DB Milan: “And don’t forget Jamal Khashoggi. MBS is running this, indirectly, yes but this line about PIF being separate from the Saudi state is total BS. Its sportswashing, plain and simple.”

    You hit that nail square on the head!

  8. As an Interista from Hong Kong,

    Saudi Arabian or Chinese which one is more “bloody”….. idk lol.

  9. @Urban Sombrero It’s not only Farcical Fair Play. Look at the bureaucracy of trying to own your own stadium! How long has Roma tried to get their stadium up and running? A decade? What about in Milan? How can teams ever compete financially when they get a fraction of stadium revenue. Then other teams get taken over by billionaires making it that much harder. What are Serie A clubs supposed to do??? @Romanzo you are right. Football is not what it once was. I’m glad I started watching other sports.

  10. @Urban Sombrero Yeah, because FFP was a conspiracy by Platini to make sure Juve reaches the top, right you clown? In 2012, Inter and Milan had over 230 million in revenue (top 10 in the world), while Juve had 150 million (barely over Marseille). That Inter and Milan went down after that and allowed Juve to dominate was not because of FFP but because your club directors were incompetent. Stop playing victim for once in your life.

  11. As a Juventini I would welcome this. Good for calcio. Good for the whole league.

    They are owned by Chinese state now company which one is worse I ask???

    Unfortunately this is the present state of football for now and the future. Join the train or get left behind. FIFA and Uefa only care about money why should it be any different for the clubs and leagues.

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