Pirelli chief executive Marco Tronchetti Provera has confirmed the company will end its 27-year spell as Inter’s shirt sponsor this summer.
Pirelli’s name has featured on the Nerazzurri’s shirts for almost three decades but their current agreement is due to expire at the end of the season, and it will not be renewed.
Speaking on Radio Rai today, Tronchetti Provera did however confirm that the parties will maintain a relationship of some kind.
“We will maintain a bond with Inter, we will no longer be the shirt sponsor but we will maintain a relationship,” he told Rai’s Gr Parlamento show ‘La Politica del Pallone’.
Inter’s hunt for a new main shirt sponsor has been widely reported for several months now and a number of Asian companies are linked with succeeding Pirelli, including Evergrande Group and Hisense.
Tronchetti Provera also discussed the situation regarding Inter’s owners Suning, who sold a 23% share in their company at the weekend to bring in some much-needed cash.
“We need to trust the official statements which have been made,” he insisted.
“Suning have had an injection of liquidity (from selling Suning.com shares) for the holding company that owns Inter.
“The company has confirmed its commitment and there should be a normal path, there are also proposals from third parties interested in entering.
“It seems to me that their will is to maintain support for Inter.”
Tronchetti Provera also touched on Inter chief executive Beppe Marotta, wishing him a speedy recovery from COVID-19 after Marotta and fellow directors Piero Ausilio and Alessandro Antonello tested positive last week.
“Marotta is a great professional,” he added.
Moving on to Inter’s on-pitch success, the Pirelli CEO said: “Inter look like they’re balanced in all departments and have a desire to win that makes them aggressive until the last minute, which is a positive sign.
“Romelu Lukaku is growing from match to match, he has confidence in his own means and he has added a healthy nastiness that at first seemed to be lacking.
“He is a goal getter and a formidable assist man.
“Christian Eriksen’s transformation shows that the team has been built well.
“Antonio Conte deserves credit for doing an extraordinary job, but we are still a long way from achieving our goal of winning the Scudetto because football is always full of surprises.”
Inter consolidated their four-point lead at the top of Serie A yesterday with a 3-0 win over Genoa at San Siro.