Beppe Marotta feels that it’s hard to say what would have happened to Inter Milan without the investment from Suning.
The Nerazzurri executive gave his thoughts on the influence of foreign investment whilst speaking to the Fedez “Wolf” podcast, via FCInterNews.
Suning have now been Inter owners for the better part of a decade.
Recent years have seen the Nerazzurri face financial restrictions, partly as a result of the financial issues at the parent company of Suning.
However, it is also the case that the Inter owners had invested heavily in the club prior to the start of the pandemic.
In recent months, there has been plenty of speculation about the future of Suning at Inter.
The Nerazzurri face a crossroads in May. That is when a massive loan that they took on from US-based fund Oaktree Capital comes due.
The Inter owners took on that loan in order to cover operating costs at Inter.
And so if Suning do not pay the loan back including interest, control of Inter would pass into the hands of Oaktree.
Marotta: Don’t Know Where Inter Would Be Without Suning
Therefore, Suning’s options would likely be to either refinance the debt, or sell Inter.
Therefore, it is quite possible that the Chinese company will no longer be Nerazzurri owners in a few months’ time.
But from the perspective of Inter CEO Marotta, it is hard to imagine where the club would be had it not been for what Suning and the Zhang family have done for the club.
Marotta noted that “Today there’s a strong foreign presence in Italy.”
“In Milan there are two very big clubs that are owned by Chinese and American owners,” he continued. “And I say thank goodness.”
“If it hadn’t been for the Zhang family, I don’t know what would’ve happened to Inter,” Marotta said.
“There have been two or three owners, one after the other.”
Marotta argued that “There’s a need to bring in capital from abroad. This will allow us to do our business.”
