Oaktree Capital have brought Inter Milan closer to AC Milan on stadium plans after there had been distance under the ownership of Suning.
This according to today’s print edition of Italian business newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, via FCInterNews.
Yesterday, Inter and Milan formally rejected the proposal to stay at the San Siro in the long-term future after renovations by architectural firm WeBuild.
Milan Mayor Beppe Sala had hoped to convince the clubs on the viability of staying in the stadium.
However, the Nerazzurri and the Rossoneri were not convinced by Sala and WeBuild’s proposal.
The two clubs have remained insistent on one thing. They feel that they need a new stadium moving forward.
However, there has been one big change in the last few weeks.
Inter and Milan are now apparently ready to try and build a new stadium together.
For more than a year, the Nerazzurri and the Rossoneri have been going their separate ways.
The clubs had reacted to the continued setbacks in their efforts to demolish the San Siro and build a new stadium in its place by each pursuing entirely separate stadium plans.
Inter have been working towards building in the commune of Rozzano. And Milan are even further along in plans of their own – they’ve purchased land in the San Donato area.
Oaktree Bring Inter Closer To AC Milan On Stadium Plans After Distance Under Suning
Inter and Milan have not been coordinating on their plans in Rozzano and San Donato respectively.
A lot of that, according to Il Sole 24 Ore, had to do with the ownership situation.
Until May of this year, Inter had been under the control of Chinese company Suning.
And the previous ownership did not have a strong relationship with Milan owners RedBird Capital.
Previous Nerazzurri President Steven Zhang had a famously frosty rapport with Rossoneri owner Gerry Capitale.
But the takeover by Oaktree has led to a bit of a shakeup.
The current Inter owners have established more open lines of communication with their counterparts at Milan.
And this has led to more willingness to cooperate on stadium plans.
It is not yet clear precisely what that will look like.
One possibility would be for the clubs to build a new stadium together in San Donato. Alternatively, they are exploring the possibility of building in the San Siro area, adjacent to the existing stadium.
But one way or the other, Inter and Milan are open to collaborating.
This would certainly represent a way for the two clubs to mitigate the financial burden of constructing a new stadium, by sharing the costs.
And the arrival of Oaktree as Inter owners has played a very major role in this shift in the dynamic.