Last week Siavoush Fallahi gave you his Wednesday editorial and Hampuks Kärki his Friday editorial. Today it’s me, Danny Hansen, who will give you my first editorial. Monday’s editorials will, at least initially, be written by me and Nima Tavallaey Roodsari biweekly.
My first column, being the oldest writer on sempreinter.com, will be about nostalgia and Inter. We have recently had to get used to the idea that Inter one day may not be owned by the Moratti family and perhaps not even of any Italian at all. It started last year when China Railway Construction Corporation were reported to having agreed to buy 15 percent stake in Inter for 55 million euros. An affair that subsequently proved to be a bureaucratic mess that we should not delve into here. The red jersey must be mentioned, however, no matter how nice they are, red is NOT Inter’s color.
A few weeks ago we Interisti learned a new name: Erick Thohir. An Indonesian media mogul who has invested money in basketball and the MLS team DC United. According to initial reports, he was interested in becoming the majority owner of Inter, something that Massimo Moratti seems to have declined, but the last word is probably not said in this story. Even if it won’t happen this time, it will probably happen within a few years.
What will happen next? What we do know is that Inter’s economy is anything but good and would benefit from financial injections in the form of investors. Inter, just like many other Italian teams, were hit hard by the recession in the country and if you add the UEFA Financial Fair Play you then understand why Inter no longer is that team which can spend every summer and that our opponents mockingly would call “champions in August. “
I said earlier that the text would be about nostalgia and for me this is all a matter of how nostalgia and common sense must meet in the middle. For me, a big part of Inter’s history is tied to the Moratti family. It was during Angelo Morattis’s presidency that the club became La Grande Inter and it was under Massimo Morattis presidency that Inter won the treble. I simply find it hard to see Inter without a Moratti as president and I have, since Massimo took over in February 1995, been convinced that his son would be his heir. That may not happen, and possibly it would be common sense to let a new owner take over for the club’s best.
While we’re talking nostalgia: our captain turns 40 this year and we have to start to get used to the idea that Il Capitano is not on San Siro’s pitch but in a suit on the side of the pitch. He is one of many heroes from 2010 who, one by one, have left and will leave Inter in the coming seasons. Most likely, Javier Zanetti will amaze us yet again, and fact is that he still fills a role on the team. Again, however, nostalgia and common sense meet. I personally have a hard time letting go of some players, but realize that it is a must for the club’s best to do it. As much as I love a player like Dejan Stankovic, I must honestly admit that he is not as valuable for Inter today as a few years ago. I sometimes wonder if Massimo Moratti and Inter’s leadership sometimes are as nostalgic as I am and that’s the reason why some players still are in the club.
Inter face a couple of exciting years that will bring changes and tearful farewells. The only question is how big these changes will be. I trust that Massimo Moratti will make the decisions that are best for the club and if that means that he is forced to sell the club, nostalgia must give way. The history is already written and no matter who the owners or the players are new history will be written.
