According to Sky Sports, Inter chairman Zhang Kangyang gave an interview to the media during the F1 Chinese Grand Prix, and he said that the news that Inter will be sold by Suning is not true. In addition, Zhang Kangyang also stressed that he will soon join the team to celebrate the championship.
It is worth noting that before May 20 this year, Zhang Kangyang will face pressure to repay the principal and interest of the loan of up to 380 million euros from Oaktree Capital. Due to financial difficulties, Zhang repeatedly asked Oaktree Capital to allow him to pay 105 million euros in interest and then refinance the 275 million euros of principal, but was rejected by the other party after several rounds of negotiations.
In this situation, the Italian media "Roma Sport" and other newspapers have repeatedly said that Zhang Kangyang is likely to lose control of Inter Milan because he cannot repay the loan on time. Of course, they also analyzed that Zhang Kangyang may also use the sale of Inter to repay the loan.
The newspaper La Repubblica even took the initiative to confirm the buyer for Inter, confirming that a fund owned by the Saudi royal family was interested in Inter and had appointed professionals to review Inter's accounts to assess the possibility of a purchase.
Now, Inter fans can rest assured, Zhang Kangyang debunked the news that Inter could be sold, and he also said: "We have won six trophies, we will continue to fight and win, as long as I am the boss, we will try to continue to win......"
Zhang Kangyang officially became Inter president in October 2018, although at the beginning of his tenure, Inter Milan was in great financial trouble due to the huge deficit left behind and the impact of the global virus, and the Nerazzurri even had to rely on selling players to keep the team running.
However, under the leadership of Zhang Kangyang, with the efforts of the management and players, Inter still delivered very good results at the competitive level.
According to statistics:
In the 2019-20 season, Inter Milan won the double runner-up of Serie A and Europa League;
In the 2020-21 season, Inter won the Serie A championship four rounds ahead of schedule;
In the 2021-22 season, Inter Milan only finished second in Serie A by only 2 points, but won the Italian Super Cup and Coppa Italia;
In the 2022-23 season, Inter Milan fell into chaos in the first half of the season, but with everyone's efforts, they gritted their teeth and persevered, and finally finished third in Serie A and reached the Champions League final. In addition, Inter also won the Italian Super Cup and Coppa Italia again that season;
This season, although Inter Milan stopped in the round of 16 in the Champions League, they won the Italian Super Cup again, and they also have a good chance of winning the Serie A championship five rounds in advance.
According to Inter's previous financial report:
In the 2020-21 season, Inter lost 245.6 million euros;
In the 2021-22 season, Inter lost 140 million euros;
In the 2022-23 season, Inter lost 85 million euros.
This year, according to the financial report provided by the board of directors of Inter, they have begun to turn a profit in the first half of the year, with a net profit of 22.3 million euros.
In the second half of the year, as Inter Milan is likely to win the Serie A title, it will receive about 100 million euros in TV broadcasting shares, plus Champions League bonuses and various sponsorship fees, Inter's revenue will be as high as more than 200 million euros. Therefore, the Italian media speculated that the possibility of Inter Milan's annual profit is still very high.
As for the debt problem, especially with regard to the principal and interest of the 380 million euro loan of Oaktree Capital, Zhang Kangyang has found a solution, that is, through cooperation with another US fund, PIMCO, to obtain a new financing loan of 400 million euros for a period of three years, which can ensure that Zhang Kangyang will continue to be at the helm of Inter.
It is worth mentioning that Zhang Kangyang's management style in Inter is still very recognized by its employees, including sports director Marotta, financial CEO Antonello and other management have renewed their contracts with Inter until 2027, and the team's coach Inzaghi Jr. also hopes to continue to coach Inter.
Finally, Zhang Kangyang said that he could not hide his excitement when talking about the upcoming Milan derby: "I am very proud of my team, I am very happy as president, we all know what our goal is, and an important game is waiting for us. ”