Steven Zhang’s request for wage cuts was rejected by everyone at Inter today, according to a report in the Italian media.

The Nerazzurri’s president is seeking to cut costs ahead of next season and was asking everyone, from players to directors and coaching staff, to give up two months of their salary.

This was widely reported to have gone down badly and now it seems a definitive ‘no’ has arrived, meaning Suning will need to pursue other options.

La Repubblica’s Franco Vanni tweeted: “There’s no agreement, neither collective nor individual, regarding the salaries.

“Players, coach, directors and staff members at Inter have declined the request from president Zhang to give up two months of their salaries in their contracts for this season.

“The dialogue took place without confrontation, but employees and workers at Inter have reiterated their desire to request what they are due.”

Inter’s players were reported earlier this week to be open to the idea of deferring their installments until next season, in order to help Suning combat the club’s financial problems.

However, it seems even this option is off the table at the moment for Zhang.

“The idea that the two installments could be deferred into next year’s accounts is also excluded at the moment,” Vanni added.

Suning have owned Inter since purchasing a majority stake from Erick Thohir in 2016 and this is undoubtedly their most difficult period in charge so far.