MILAN – Here on inter.it you can read what president Erick Thohir and CEO Michael Bolingbroke said at a meeting with journalists on Thursday afternoon.
"A STRONG TEAM ON AND OFF THE PITCH"
Erick Thohir: "Do you remember November 2013? I came here, alone. There were some people who said I knew nothing about football, others that I didn't understand sports business. But I do understand it, and rather well too. And I understood it back then. I did need to get to know Serie A better back then though and I needed a team to help me, because lots of things are changing in football on the global level. It's important to have a reliable management team that can follow club matters' on a day-to-day basis. It's important for me to come here once a month and if you want to make comparisons with other foreign owners around the Europe I don't think there are many who spend as much time at the club as I do. Of course for the day-to-day running you need someone who's here all the time and can act without the owner necessarily having to be around.
"I'm the second foreign owner in Serie A and I might have a different vision for the league than other presidents. Every president has their own style, you can't say one is better than another but this is my style. And I believe, as a fan and as an owner, that Serie A can compete with the best if everyone helps, and that obviously includes Inter. Some people say I don't support Mancini or the management but they are very wrong. We speak all the time. Obviously it takes time to change things but we have we've put together a strong team both on the pitch and off it. You see the results on the pitch from week to week, and you obviously experience highs and lows, but our business plan is for five years. The truth is that I've made a commitment and provided capital and I'll continue to do that. We've set Champions League qualification as our target and we're still working towards that. But if we don't make it – and we're still in the running – we'll focus on the next step, without having to improvise anything. We have a strategy which is the result of a plan.
"A business plan includes investment so we've injected capital, and if I have to do it again I will. What matters is that the management team know very clearly which targets they are aiming for. We've already obtained some results but of course we're not completely satisfied because we haven't met our targets fully yet. We need to keep growing and grow a lot but we're pleased because we've improved our figures. Our target is to reach at least €230 million. We need to fight if we want to grow, just as Inter must fight in Serie A.”
"ME AND MORATTI"
Erick Thohir: “You can consult the balance sheet, from my part there are loans of €100 million. I've invested more than €200 million overall, but let's not focus on that. It's not my style to speak about the money I've put into the club. I'm doing it for the good of Inter. If the need arises for another cash injection, I'm ready to do it.
"As for Massimo Moratti, he has already invested so much in the past. There is an agreement between us which means it's up to me to invest, but if he wants to he's free to put money in as well. There's no conflict between us, it's all in the agreements and we should respect the fact that he invested a great deal in the past. This is why when I arrived I wanted to avoid comparisons between me and Moratti from the very beginning. Also, he won the Champions League and I am still working to be successful.
"This doesn't take anything away from the fact that we're partners and we discuss everything together. In the framework of the agreement with Moratti, I gave guarantees that there would be the necessary funds to continue our project in a linear fashion and I have financed wherever necessary. I will do it again in June if necessary, but that was all agreed at the start.
"A different issue is the question of investors. The most important thing is to find a partner in China. If there happen to be other investors they'd be welcome, but at the moment there aren't any. There's no rush and there aren't any looming deadlines, but it is important to find a partner to open up this new pool.
"In the meantime, income is increasing. Before it was €160 million and now we're up to €180 million. That means a growth of more than 10%. In the current climate where our percentage points are in the negative, the fact we've grown by more than 10% seems to me to be an unequivocally positive sign. Last year we worked hard and managed to hit a positive return. We will do even more to increase this still further. We need more than €180 million: our aim – as I have said – is to reach €230 million."
"Moratti and I are partners and if in the future we find new investors, there will be a reduction in our shares. I will still hold the majority, but for example there could be two minority shareholders. But for now I don't know what will happen, I can't speak for Massimo Moratti.
"If Moratti wanted to sell his shares to someone, he'd be able to do so – this is his right. However, he's already said that he wants to stay at Inter and I want him to stay. He's a very able and kind business partner and he gives me lots of support. There's mutual respect and he knows we're working hard.
Our relationship is good and we've never thought about acquiring his shares, something which if it had been in our interests we would have bought 100% straight away.
"My philosophy on this point is clear. I'm a majority owner of a club in the USA and we share things with the minority shareholders and agree upon what needs to be decided. The important thing is to have the same vision and plan. We always try to find an agreement with Moratti, which is what happened recently with Eder for example.
"We're not a publicly traded company, we don't discuss things and then decide by a show of hands. We agree together to choose the direction of the club and that's the best thing.
"For me, a partnership is a strong relationship between who's got the majority and who's got the minority. I have partners in all of my businesses because it's part of my philosophy. Partnerships help to balance things out and enact measures and counter-measures because you work better as a pair. Now we're focused on the league and we're going to fight to achieve our aim of qualification to the Champions League.”
"FIVE YEARS NOT FIVE MINUTES"
Michael Bolingbroke: "We have an agreement on Financial Fair Play which is set out across a two-year basis, covering this financial year and the next. For now, the primary target to reach is a maximum of -€30 million for this year and then break even next year. It's important for us to respect the content of this agreement because it would mean that in 18 months we'd break even.
"Obviously, in order to achieve this, we have maintained and are continuing to maintain constant contact with UEFA. They understand what we are doing and they understand that breaking even is not easy. For example, if tomorrow we received less money than expected from the television-rights deal, UEFA would not sanction us because they're aware of our position. Their role is not to set out sanctions but to ensure every club can break even. As for ourselves, I think we can do it. We're working hard at it, even if it's not an easy task.
"I fully support FFP, but clearly two years isn't a great deal of time because we're talking about making a significant U-turn. I can confirm that they're asking us to stay under the threshold of €30 million in losses for the first year, but we should remember that FFP has different principles compared to our accounting approach for the financial statement. The club maintains a lot of expenses which aren't taken into account because they're not considered "virtuous". For example, UEFA disregards everything we spend on Inter Campus, the youth sector, stadium expenses or work in preparation for the Champions League final.
"Moving onto the Champions League, missing out on qualification would obviously be a disappointment for us, just like all the fans, but not a disaster. Our plan is for five years and not five minutes. It's important that everything is assessed as part of a long-term approach."
"CORE PLAYERS WON'T CHANGE"
Erick Thohir: "We're constantly seeing news in the media about our players being sold off. We have a strategy to manage the sporting side of things that has allowed us to build a strong core group.
"Compared to two years ago we have brought in a lot of new faces, but in the next two or three years we won't need to buy ten players every summer. It's crucial to have quality players to build a team and we've done that. The core group won't change."
"BEWARE BEING LEFT BEHIND ON STADIUM"
Erick Thohir: "Juventus draw in €40 million a season from ticket sales. If we could do the same at San Siro jointly with AC Milan – as we intend to – both clubs could have €15-20 million extra in income each. The stadium is changing, including the ground box and family areas.
"If there are further delays on the stadium revamp, other teams like Roma or Fiorentina will have built their arenas and we'll be left behind. The danger is that Inter and Milan lose ground in terms of being able to attract people here. We're pushing to have a top-level stadium, just like Juventus who have successfully shown other Italian clubs how to make the best use of your venue."
Michael Bolingbroke: "Milan's aim over the last two years was to build a new stadium in Portello and so we've been focusing on what we would do with the stadium if we were to have sole control of it. We tasked a team of architects and investment experts with drawing up a project worth €100/200 million. We presented this to the City Council and they were very pleased and satisfied.
"At that point, Milan changed their minds and asked us if they could see the project so we shared it with them. Then they asked us for some time to think before giving us a response. Now our next meeting this afternoon [on Thursday] will be very important. We will listen to what they have to say and what they want to do. We don't plan on forcing them to do what we want. We will suggest something and it would be fantastic to come up with an idea together that suits both parties. We'll listen to Barbara Berlusconi's feedback and then we'll put together some joint plans and projects that we can take further."
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