By Adedapo Adesanya
Following a setback suffered from the failure to acquire English top-flight side, Newcastle United, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has reportedly moved its sight to Italian giants, Inter Milan FC.
Italian media are reporting that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) – among the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world with total estimated assets of at least $500 billion is moving its focus on a takeover of the struggling Italian champions.
Saudi Arabia has been making attempts to secure the European football market and is said to be looking to complete a flagship deal with the purchase of the Nerazzurri so it can compete with its Gulf neighbours, the UAE and Qatar have been in the footballing business for over a decade through their purchase of Manchester City and PSG respectively.
Under Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman, Saudi Arabia has embarked on a similar economic development strategy which includes multi-billion-dollar investments in sports.
Inter Milan’s current owners, the China-based Suning group, are looking to sell at least half of their shares in the club as it faces financial difficulties since completing their own purchase of a controlling interest in the club from an Indonesian businessman, Mr Erick Thohir five years ago.
Inter is reportedly losing around $14 million a month, and even though they raised around $152 million in transfer fees in the summer, primarily through the sale of Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku and Moroccan Achraf Hakimi, the Chinese firm is looking to significantly reduce its shareholding.
Meanwhile, after the failed Saudi bid, owner of Newcastle United Mike Ashley filed an anti-competition claim against the Premier League due to its failure to make a timely decision on the approval of the proposed $447 million takeover last year.
Dipo Olowookere