Move Zhang: hello San Siro. Inter have chosen an area in the city for their stadium

Even Inter will have its own stadium. And it won’t be San Siro. Steven Zhang’s club has an operational plan B, which is about to become plan A. There is already an area identified, within the municipality of Milan. What’s more: it is private land and the Nerazzurri have an armored agreement in place with the entrepreneur who owns the area.

The location is top secret, but it won’t be long before the cards are revealed. What is missing? Basically, Inter want to be sure that there really isn’t any chance of proceeding at the San Siro. Possible? Even in the face of a Milan now determined to build its plant elsewhere? The answer is yes. And it is the result of a question that Steven Zhang himself has asked himself in the last few hours. The background emerges directly from the viale della Liberazione club: the president recounted having had several talks with Gordon Singer, son of Paul, former owner of Milan through the Elliott fund, who is still a director of the Rossoneri company today. He was the man, to be clear, that Zhang and all of Inter had as a reference on the stadium affair, on the shared idea of ​​building a new facility in the San Siro area. Zhang and Singer met personally in Riyadh a month ago, on the occasion of the last Super Cup. But Inter, after learning indirectly of Gerry Cardinale’s orientation on the subject, let it be known of a new direct contact in the last few days between Zhang and Gordon Singer. A phone call, specifically, in which – again according to the Nerazzurri reconstruction – Singer confirmed to the Inter president the orientation to go ahead on San Siro. As if, for his part, nothing had changed compared to before. And as if, within the AC Milan club, the address was not unique and there was, on the contrary, great confusion about the matter.

The theme is obviously delicate, has opposing points of view and calls into question multiple aspects. Certainly, it now denotes an enormous distance between the two Milan clubs on the stadium issue. What’s more: a total lack of communication and, on the part of the Nerazzurri club, also disappointment and irritation at the behavior of Cardinale, who earlier – this is the story of last September, during the championship derby – would have guaranteed Zhang a personal interview on the stadium theme within a month. An interview that never took place, in the face of a very active communication from the owner of RedBird on the decision to leave San Siro. Indirect repartee, low blows, for a theme that has always been divisive. Moreover, the political question remains decisive on San Siro. The presentation of the new urban plan for the city of Milan is expected at the end of March. If, as some rumors say, there won’t be room for the “new” San Siro in that plan, this should be read as the tombstone of the affair. And this net of Cardinale’s choice to look elsewhere.

That’s why Inter took action, identifying an area to build the plant independently. On-site inspections have already been carried out, which have evidently had a positive outcome. If this were the case, we would therefore definitively go towards the construction of two new stadiums, with a San Siro whose management at that point would be totally borne by the Municipality. And obviously without the revenues from the rentals of Inter and Milan, which paid 8.5 million euros in 2021-22 alone. But that’s another discussion. In fact, the stadium project for which the two clubs have invested time and human resources ends up in the attic – Inter with three men from the club including the CEO. Alessandro Antonello, Milan with external consultants who have alternated over the years – and also money for (non-executive) projects, calculated at around 4 million euros. The sensation of two companies with minimal relations remains on the skin, net of the Zhang-Singer interview described above. Inter has experienced Cardinale’s moves and communication in recent times as a real institutional snub. And the barbs from a distance are not lacking. Because if Cardinale’s Milan filters widespread perplexity about the Nerazzurri’s financial situation, underlining the existence of Oaktree’s loan for 275 million, Zhang’s club is instead ready to underline how Cardinale took over Milan through a “vendor loan” , or a loan that the seller (Elliott) grants to the buyer (RedBird, Cardinale in fact) in exchange for a pledge on the club. From the series: attack and counterattack. Besides the smoke, however, there is also the roast. And an Inter that is not standing still. Far from it, as evidenced by the activism on the choice of the area. Milan is therefore starting to copy the great European football capitals, where each club has its own stadium. Which certainly means a higher investment in the design and construction phases. But also higher revenues. And, a passage that applies to any property, even an asset that considerably increases the value of the club. Not trivial.