Antonio Conte has urged his Inter players to ignore speculation surrounding the future of owners Suning and focus on matters on the pitch.
Speculation suggesting the Chinese e-commerce giants could sell the club is reaching fever pitch in the Italian media, with the Nerazzurri’s CEO Beppe Marotta confirming in his interview before today’s Coppa Italia match at Fiorentina that Suning are ‘evaluating interest’ for the club.
Inter concentrated on the job at hand in Florence and secured a 2-1 win courtesy of a late extra-time winner from Romelu Lukaku, but Conte knows the off-pitch issues could become a distraction in the coming weeks.
“With the players there is great compactness and unity, I was very clear with them and I said that we must think exclusively of working and doing our best, to make our fans proud,” Conte told reporters in his post-match press conference.
“It is inevitable that we cannot say that we do not care but it is a situation that must not influence us.
“We are professionals and we know that there may be particular situations.
“By doing our best we will make the fans proud.”
British investment firm BC Partners are being strongly linked with Inter, with reports suggesting they are preparing to make an offer to buy a majority stake off Suning.
A report in Corriere dello Sport this morning said Suning had called an special board meeting for tomorrow, in which the ongoing negotiations will be discussed, among other pressing issues.
