Chelsea transfer news,
Inter’s difficult summer
The departure of Lukaku has angered Inter Milan fans who are experiencing a difficult summer after watching their team romp to a 19th league crown.
Coach Conte walked away from Inter Milan last month with a year still left on his contract following clashes with the club’s cash-strapped Chinese owners.
Conte, who was replaced with Simone Inzaghi, refused Suning’s planned cost-cutting which would have prevented him building the team he wanted to challenge at home and in Europe.
Inter Milan have already sold marauding wing-back Achraf Hakimi, a key figure in the title win, to Paris Saint-Germain for a reported initial 60 million euros, after just one season in Italy.
There were even reports in England that Inter had agreed a fee in excess of £60 million to sell Lukaku’s striker partner Lautaro Martinez to Tottenham Hotspur, although they were quickly denied by both Inter and the player’s agent Alejandro Camano.
Argentina forward Martinez is in Inter’s starting line-up against Parma alongside rookie Uruguayan Martin Satriano.
Inter Milan made losses of 100 million euros in the 2019/20 season mainly due to the coronavirus pandemic which has caused havoc to club finances across Europe.
According to finance company Deloitte, revenues in Serie A that season were down 18 percent, the biggest drop of Europe’s top five leagues.
The Suning Group, which owns Inter Milan’s, shut down their Chinese club Jiangsu FC in February just months after it won the Chinese Super League title.
In May Suning obtained financing worth 275 million euros ($336 million) with US investment firm Oaktree Capital designed to get the club through its current financial strife.
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© Agence France-Presse
