Saudi sovereign wealth fund PIF have not come any closer towards buying a stake in Inter since September.

This according to CBS journalist Ben Jacobs, who reported in a Twitter thread that no new talks have taken place between the PIF and current owners Suning about full or partial ownership in the last few months.

The PIF have been reported to have an interest in the Nerazzurri since last year, and rumours emerged in October that the fund was close to finalizing a purchase of the club from Suning.

The club has firmly denied these rumours, and Jacobs has confirmed that the current owners have not come close to sale in recent months as the rumours have suggested.

Indeed, while the PIF are indeed still interested in the club, he reports that the fund are by no means ready to take the plunge on full ownership or even purchasing a partial stake.

As Jacobs explains, there are other directions in which the PIF’s interest could go, and other options including sponsorship of the club which would likely be more appealing to them.

Jacobs explains that “Inter’s denial a sale to PIF is close is correct. The parties have held no recent or advanced talks. Not since September.”

“PIF have considered both minority & majority ownership. But Suning drive a hard bargain,” he goes on.

Jacobs explains that “A 30% stake & full ownership have both been explored in the past. But Suning seem to want stop-gap funding & value the club far higher than PIF (or other suitors) do.”

“Unless price or circumstances change quickly,” the journalist continues.. “I expect any KSA involvement to be via sponsorship not ownership.”

“PIF are opportunistic, but invest for value not vanity,” he adds.

“There would be value in sponsoring Inter & becoming part of their brand,” he elaborates. That’s a logical next step in theory.”

Jacobs concludes that “There is not currently value in buying Inter at Suning’s asking price even with progress on the stadium front.”