Despite being crowned as Serie A champions for 2023-24, uncertain times lie ahead for Inter, as club President Steven Zhang and holding company Suning’s €395m loan must be repaid by the end of Monday. If they fail to come good, the club will be repossessed and a new management team could come into effect in San Siro.
US fund Oaktree Capital provided a €275m loan with a 12% interest rate back in 2021, which must be repaid in full on May 20, 2024. If the loan is not repaid, Oaktree will assume control, as the club was effectively used as collateral at the time of the original agreement.
However, Oaktree reportedly have no interest in running and operating a football club. If the loan is not repaid, they will look to sell Inter as swiftly as possible. Recent reports suggest they may even have a buyer lined up already.
Who will run Inter day-to-day
Oaktree have promised to keep the same management in place if they do assume control of the club next week according to reports from TMW on Sunday morning.
However, the new shareholders after that will have to confirm their own board of directors, and importantly, appoint a new President to replace Zhang.
Though recent reports suggest that Oaktree’s potential repossession of Inter will not have an impact on the agreement of new contracts or transfer deals, there is expected to be a period of around 20 days where that type of business is put on hold, until a new, longer-term owner is put in place.