A sale of Inter from current owners Suning this summer would not be an improbable scenario.

This according to today’s print edition of Turin-based newspaper Tuttosport, via FCInterNews, who report that a number of factors and in particular the looming due date of the large loan from Oaktree mean that a sale “isn’t far-fetched.”

The rumours that Suning could sell Inter have been persistent for the past couple of years, with the financial issues that have plagued both the Nerazzurri and the Chinese retail giant’s parent company meaning creating an atmosphere of uncertainty.

So far, Suning have held on, and have always sent signals that they are not interested in a sale despite the rumours, at least not below their valuation of the club.

The owners’ stance has always been that they are looking for minority investment rather than for someone to purchase Inter outright.

However, the rumours have hardly gone away, with a report emerging yesterday that Bahrain-based fund InvestCorp are rekindling their interest in buying the Nerazzurri from Suning.

There have been no shortage of rumoured interested parties, particularly from the US.

Meanwhile, former Nerazzurri CEO Ernesto Pellegrini has suggested that there could be an Italian takeover in the club’s future.

From the point of view of Tuttosport, there is plenty of substance to these rumours even if as of yet there have been no concrete indications of the current owners wanting to sell.

The reason for this is just the inescapable financial logic that the massive loan which Suning took in from US-based fund Oaktree Capital in 2021 comes due next year.

That loan was taken on in order to cover operating expenses at Inter, and the club was put up as collateral meaning that if it is not repaid when it comes due then control of the club would pass into the hands of the US-based fund.

Suning refinanced the loan with a €415 million bond, although reports have suggested that the bond is at real risk of being downgraded.

In the meantime, there has been the problem of the farcical situation with current main shirt sponsors DigitalBits which has seen the cryptocurrency company not able to make any of their payments.

Additionally, there is the fact that Inter President Steven Zhang is facing an unrelated lawsuit from a Chinese bank who are seeking €300 million in unpaid debts.

All of these factors, Tuttosport suggest, could push the current Inter owners to sell the club as early as this summer, whether they want to or not.