Milan have finally been sold, say reports, but to a different Chinese conglomerate than the one led by Sonny Wu and Sal Galatioto.
The finale to one of the longest and most contradictory business stories in the history of Italian football came with a bang, as the prospective buyers were changed at the last minute.
Milan have finally been sold, say reports, but to a different Chinese conglomerate than the one led by Sonny Wu and Sal Galatioto.
The finale to one of the longest and most contradictory business stories in the history of Italian football came with a bang, as the prospective buyers were changed at the last minute.
The new business group is led by investor Yonghong Li, and it replaces the team made up by Sonny Wu, Nicholas Gancikoff and Sal Galatioto who had previously been given the exclusive to all negotiations. This appears to be yet another party compared to the team of investors led by Jorge Mendes that was expected, as early as this morning, to swoop in for the deal.
The new business partners are known as the Sino-Europe Investment Management Changxing, and they will pay €700m for the Diavolo, inclusive of their €250m debts.
The deal also includes a variety of clauses to ensure that the new owners will invest €350m on Milan over the next three years, including €100m to be deposited now.
The deal is being reported as official by the site of the Gazzetta dello Sport, but Milan's official site has crashed, plausibly due to an excess of traffic.
Although the report is bouncing across other media outlets, the official statement can only be confirmed once the club's media is back online.