Erick Thohir has outlined Inter’s strategy over the coming years and indicated a period of two to three years is needed for the transition.
The club have endured an uneasy season on the pitch during which the Indonesian completed his takeover and whilst they are now in contention for Europa League qualification, he has made clear the hopes of a quick push up to Champions League football may be premature.
Erick Thohir has outlined Inter’s strategy over the coming years and indicated a period of two to three years is needed for the transition.
The club have endured an uneasy season on the pitch during which the Indonesian completed his takeover and whilst they are now in contention for Europa League qualification, he has made clear the hopes of a quick push up to Champions League football may be premature.
“When we arrived we spoke with Massimo Moratti and agreed that there would be a transition period of two-three years to bring stability,” Thohir has explained at today’s shareholders’ meeting.
“People have asked me about the European Cup Final being in Milan in 2016, that we want to be there, but it depends on how we will develop in the coming years.
“We want to create a strong team, and a fighting spirit, that is more important than looking for stars around the world.
“We want to do this as we can afford to, in Italy we cannot sign people like Bale, as we did 10 years ago, but this concerns the whole of Serie A.
“The football world needs to change – the other night I spoke to the people at Infront on our strategies, agreeing that the major markets are no longer in Europe.
“Our goal is to reach the East, Asia, South America – we need to discuss with the League in terms of game schedules, to improve the position of our calcio.”
Thohir went into detail on his plans for restructuring the Nerazzurri away from the field.
“Today, we have created a media company, which will focus on the media and sponsors and revenues, there will be some new elements such as a new head of ticketing.
“If you look at the top 15 clubs in Europe, the average revenue from ticketing is €260m a year. This is the level that we want to reach and it is important to have someone to take care of the tickets.
“We will take other directors too, to reach that level because it takes an important management – we are thinking of a marketing director and a person to deal with sponsorship.
“The agreement with Infront is only in Europe, not in China, Japan or the rest of the world, but Inter have to think even at a global level.
“We must also reach markets such as southeast Asia and Australia. To do so we need to promote our brand internationally through marketing. We must develop the media, website and social networks, which are sources of revenue.
“Our reorganisation will be based on three pillars – to make the club healthy through a restructuring and financial discipline, inspired by the top clubs in Europe like Real Madrid and the English clubs that have tried to balance the budget, particularly with player salaries, which should not affect 50 per cent of revenues.
“It is also important to have a balanced club financially and beyond and this is the second pillar. The third points is related to a global presence – we have already signed contract at an academy level in India and want to do the same in China, Japan and the US.
“We want to strengthen tools such as the website, with partners in China and others to look for in other countries.
“We are planning a tour in the States and then studying another in Asia. We must, however, maintain discipline, we want balance at all levels, the business plan must function for us.”