Milan mayor Giuseppe ‘Beppe’ Sala has stressed that the council cannot lose ownership of the stadium regardless of what the Milanese clubs decide to do.

Recent reports suggest that Inter and Milan have decided to go ahead with plans to build a new state-of-the-art ground which would thus see the inconic San Siro demolished.

“We need to find a formula because it’s owned by the council with a very long-term concession.

“It’s clear that we can’t lose ownership of the stadium. They can hand ownership over to us via a long-term concession.”

He then went on to speak about the possible costs behind building a new stadium.

“Inter and Milan are now making assessments from an economic-financial point of view: building a new stadium will cost about €500-600m and I believe they’re also evaluating the cost of refurbishments.

He concluded: “There’s only one constraint that I place on it: we can’t lose the stadium. Frankly I can’t say what the solution will be, but I’m inviting them to come up with a proposal.”