Inter and Milan are heading for a long scrap with city mayor Giuseppe Sala over plans to rebuild San Siro, according to Gazzetta dello Sport.

Sala is adamant the stadium must be fully operational for the 2026 Winter Olympics, for which the Meazza is due to host the opening ceremony.

However, he has also told the clubs they cannot carry out any construction work on San Siro or the surrounding area while the games are taking place.

“The numbers don’t add up for Inter and Milan however they choose to get around this,” Gazzetta explained this morning.

“If they do nothing until after the Winter Olympics they’d have to wait seven years to start building the new stadium, which is an idea they won’t even consider, Milan in particular.

“If they pressed ahead now, though, they would have enough time to build the stadium but not everything else their master plan includes, such as hotels, commercial centres and multiplexes.

“Postponing all of those extra facilities would mean the clubs could not generate the revenue they need to recoup the money spent on building San Siro, and we’re talking about €450 million each.”

Inter and Milan want to submit a complete planning application to the council by the end of this year, with the aim of receiving all necessary authorisation in 2020 and starting work in 2021.

San Siro would then be ready for use ahead of the 2024-25 season, but Sala is likely to dismiss this timescale as far too ambitious.