Finnish businessman Thomas Zilliacus claims he has made a massive bid worth €1.4 billion to buy Inter and suggests a ‘fan platform model’ for both the Nerazzurri and Manchester United, which already worked at a ‘top Italian club.’
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, he insists that he has formally submitted a bid worth in the region of €1.4 billion (£1.2 billion) to buy out the San Siro giants.
This is certainly not the first time that Zilliacus has put himself in the conversation for the future of Inter, repeatedly giving interviews and even speaking to supporters on social media, suggesting that he has a credible offer in place to buy out Suning.
He had also been part of the race to purchase Manchester United from the Glazers last year, only to be cast aside quite early into the process.
Despite that, Zilliacus remains confident he can do business with the Premier League side and suggests an innovative model to raise funds from the huge fanbase of football clubs, in exchange for giving them ‘a say’ on transfer philosophy and dividends.
“I welcome very much the fact that Jim Ratcliffe is running the footballing side because he’s a passionate Manchester United fan and knows football,” former Nokia official Zilliacus told MEN Sport.
“So what I would love to do is to talk with him and his team about the fan monetisation platform that we would have deployed if we would have been able to take over the club. It is a platform that can generate very significant revenues for Manchester United.
“And I would be more than happy to discuss the possibility of working together in order to generate those funds. I know we could structure something very exciting for the global fan base that would generate very significant revenues for the club.”
He claims this is a ‘Swedish concept’ and “the best monetary returns was actually with a top Italian club, one of those in the Champions League. So it has been tested.”
It is not clear which top Italian club he is referring to.
“We have run this with other top clubs and we have made over 400 US dollars per participating fan. So of course, not every single fan is participating… about five per cent of the fan base participated when we tested it with other clubs.
“So if Manchester United has around a billion fans, as has been claimed, five per cent of that is 50 million times 400 US dollars. That’s a hell of a lot of money.”
Former Manchester United takeover bidder Thomas Zilliacus wants to talk with Sir Jim Ratcliffe about an idea he claims could earn the club up to $20billionhttps://t.co/84w3bDWE3R pic.twitter.com/eg3nEcQNE7
— Mirror Football (@MirrorFootball) February 17, 2024
“ 💰 💴 💵 “, said Mr Zilliacus.