Inter owners Suning are hoping to ease their financial concerns by securing a €250 million loan, but Italian media warn that this may not cover their debts.
The Chinese retail conglomerate have been seeking investment since the turn of the year as they battle financial woes, but President Steven Zhang is reluctant to sell the club and is hoping for a loan or a minority sale.
As reported in today’s newspaper edition of Tuttosport, American investors Bain Capital and Oaktree Capital Group are close to agreeing a deal to provide the funding, with a view to covering an outstanding €250m.
However, part of this amount would also need to go to minority stakeholder LionRock to buy them out and their value upon purchasing a 31% stake from former President Erick Thohir in 2019 stood at €166m.
This would leave Suning with less than €90m to pay outstanding and future salaries, transfer instalments and other management expenses, suggesting there will be little room for manoeuvre in the transfer market.
Tuttosport warn that Inter may yet be forced to sell a big name player in the summer in order to fund any additions to the squad, with striker Lautaro Martinez and midfielder Christian Eriksen suggested as candidates to be offloaded.
The Nerazzurri will also look to cash in on players currently out on loan, whilst they will attempt to move on older members of the squad on high salaries, including Arturo Vidal and Matias Vecino.