Suning: 'Inter on top of the world'
Suning: 'Inter on top of the world'
By Football Italia staff
Suning Group outlined their plans to invest heavily in Inter while “respecting the traditions of the club” and will give Frank de Boer “patience.”
La Gazzetta dello Sport visited the headquarters of Suning in Nanjing and spoke to Ming Zheng, one of patron Jindong Zhang’s most trusted associates.
“Suning will certainly continue to invest in the team to help Inter grow. We want those in Italy to know that we care about this club and, as well as on a football level, we are collaborating with the city of Milan and your country to develop sport and commerce.
“For now, our priority is Inter. Suning are interested in opening stores and developing e-commerce in Italy. There are some interesting opportunities.
“The big difference between Suning and other Chinese companies that bought football teams is that we already had a sports section before taking on Inter, with a top division men’s and women’s team, including investments in a youth academy and long-term projects.
“We love football, President Zhang is passionate about the sport and we put together a highly-professional staff.”
Suning have been eager to reassure Nerazzurri supporters that the take-over will be “a soft landing. We need time to understand the situation and will make the necessary changes only when we feel the moment is right.
“We want to maintain an Italian Inter. The Nerazzurri have their own history and culture, we respect their traditions and don’t want Inter to simply become a Chinese club.
“This year the objective is to enter the Champions League and if necessary we’ll invest again in January. The medium-long-term plan is to take Inter to the top of the world, to make them competitive enough to win the Champions League.
“Suning was born for commerce, it runs through the veins of every person here. We have a great deal of faith, but right now we want to help grow the team with results, then the rest will be easier.”
The issue of Coach De Boer was also raised, as the Dutchman has had some ups and downs so far on the Inter bench.
“It requires patience and we must give him the time to see what he can achieve, continued Ming Zheng.
“We are not going to pass judgment now. Suning will give all its support to the Coach and the team, then at the right moment we’ll make our evaluations and choose the best path for Inter, which is the most important thing.”
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