TANGERANG – Erick Thohir took the opportunity to speak about the present and future of the Nerazzurri while attending a celebration at Inter Club Indonesia.
"Inter have had a good season, not perfect but good. We ended up in fourth place and we're back in Europe, which wasn't the case last year.
"Three years have passed since I took over from Massimo Moratti and in every season AC Milan have always been behind us. It really is a shame that we weren't perfect this year. We were top of the league in January but, as I have always said, we didn't have the right consistency. That's football for you.
"Anyway in comparison with one year ago, we've finished on 67 points. This is a good springboard and the average age of the squad is 26, plus the key players are all young. We have to do a lot better next year.
"You've read about new signings in the papers but I can't announce any new players until we have the signatures. I think we're lacking a bit of character. We need to add good leaders to the squad. Nevertheless, we've already got top players like Ivan Perisic, Geoffrey Kondogbia and Mauro Icardi – we need to protect them. We will strength the squad further, we want to add two or three players who can help us achieve our objectives.
"I've told the management that we have to be confident our team knows what it means to pull on the Inter shirt. Take Cristian Chivu and Javier Zanetti for example, they always gave everything. Chivu told me how he played the entire 2007/08 season with a dislocated back because it couldn't be operated on. You can imagine how painful that must have been.
"The majority of our players today are young and they should take their examples from legends like those who always fought for the shirt. I want everyone to have a sense of belonging, to bleed black and blue when they pull on our shirt.
"We've had highs and lows this season but compared to last year we have 15 more points. You've read a lot of things about Roberto Mancini but he has a year left on his contract. He's a top coach and he's done well – everyone at management level is pleased with the work he's doing. There are regrets but complaining won't get us anywhere. We have massive faith in Mancini and we want to encourage him to do his best.
"We're a global name: currently we're ninth out of the ten biggest brands in the world of football. However, in terms of income we're down in 17th. Football today is like an industry and our income is on the rise. We've gone from €164 million two years ago when we were in the Europa League to €186 million this year, despite not playing in Europe. Average income for the top ten clubs in the world is around €270 million. Therefore we not only need to improve on the pitch but in the business side of things as well.
"As for when Inter will come to Indonesia, we were supposed to come at the end of July last year to play against Manchester City but the Indonesian football federation was suspended. This year we will play in the USA against Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and others.
"We have 264 million fans around the world and 190 million of them are in the Asia Pacific – the majority in China. This is the reason why it's important to have a strategic partner in that area. We are making progress but nothing has been signed yet. For the same reason, in agreement with the management team, we will come for tournaments in Asia for the next five years. Our hope is to play in Indonesia for five years in a row and this will allow us to grow our fanbase. In the meantime, thank you for your support and forza Inter forever!"
