Mayor on San Siro project: ‘Inter now under stable ownership’ | OneFootball

Mayor of Milan Beppe Sala is confident they can work out a deal to revamp San Siro now that Inter are ‘under stable and very determined ownership,’ which was not the case with Suning.

The issue of what to do with the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza and the area surrounding it, in the San Siro neighbourhood of the city, has been dragging on for the best part of a decade.

Inter and Milan had originally wanted to knock down the stadium and build a new, modern arena in effectively the car park, but that was blocked by local and national authority rules treating it as a protected historical landmark.

Instead, both clubs worked on building their own new stadium in the suburbs of the city, specifically San Donato and Rozzano.

Now they have come back to the original plan to create a new structure next to the existing Stadio Giuseppe Meazza and share it together.

San Siro plans never stopped for Inter and Milan

MILAN, ITALY – MAY 22: (L-R) CEO Corporate FC Internazionale Alessandro Antonello, Oaktree’s Global Opportunities strategy Managing Director Katherine Ralph, Managing Director and Co-Head of Europe for Oaktree’s Global Opportunities strategy Alejandro Cano, CEO Sport FC Internazionale Giuseppe Marotta attend a meeting between FC Internazionale new owners Oaktree and Club’s Management on May 22, 2024 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Guido De Bortoli/Getty Images)

“The project never really stopped,” insisted Mayor of Milan Sala to reporters when asked what had changed over the last five years.

“We never blocked anything, the local council merely looked at the results of the public consultation. There were clubs, above all Milan, who decided to take a different path and we waited for something to be finalised.”

Sala insists there has been one major development that changed the San Siro scenario and it was when Suning failed to repay a loan in May 2024, effectively allowing Oaktree to repossess the club in the same way that Elliott had done with Milan a few years earlier.

“There are two solid owners behind the clubs now. As an Inter fan, I really appreciate what Steven Zhang did for Inter, as he and his family lost money on this. But now Inter are under stable and very determined ownership. That is an element of difference compared to the past.”

If Milan and Inter were to build their individual structures outside the city, it would require a huge shift in public and private transportation options.

“I think San Siro is best for both teams. I also understand that (Milan President Paolo) Scaroni has a rapport with the Mayor of San Donato, that they made an investment, but what we can do is carry on along the path I will illustrate on Monday in front of the council, then we can formulate it for the public consultation.

“The clubs will decide, it is tough at this point for me to say if I am optimistic or pessimistic.”