MILAN - Michael Bolingbroke has underlined Inter's ambition in the wake of the recent partnership agreement with Suning Holdings Group.
In an interview with Sky Sport Italia, the Nerazzurri CEO touched on the club's immediate and longer term future, before commenting on transfer speculation and stressing that Roberto Mancini will remain in charge of the team.
"This is a big change for the club but it's good news. What we announced on Monday was an intention and it will be ratified on 27 June. There'll be a meeting and we'll confirm the changes then," Bolingbroke explained.
"The new owners have asked me to stay on as chief executive, which I'm very proud to do. The senior management team will remain the same and the reason for that is Suning recognise the project that we're working on at the moment. They recognise that it needs the current team to carry out the project and they want us to stay. They believe in us and that's one of the main reasons why we believe in them too.
"Suning have great ambitions for the club and they offer us a number of things. Having a partner such as Suning gives us incredible access to the Chinese market. Suning are the largest retailer in China and they have very deep pockets. They want to invest in the club – in our youth academy and first-team training grounds and in players. The important thing is they're ambitious about what we want to achieve at the club."
On future transfer business: "We have to work through certain agreements with UEFA and that doesn't mean we can't buy players; we just have to be careful to balance our books. Our goal is to make sure that by the end of next season we have qualified for the Champions League – by winning the league or coming second or third. We're in the Europa League as well and our goal is to win it: that requires depth of squad and we're working hard with Piero Ausilio and Giovanni Gardini to do that. I think it's unlikely the agreement will change but we will speak to UEFA about it."
On rumours linking Antonio Candreva and Yaya Toure with moves to Inter: "We're talking about and to a lot of players but I don't want to comment on individual players at the moment. What I would say is that we have ambitions for next season."
On Roberto Mancini's position: "He's our manager, he's under contract and we want him to stay. I've read a lot about Mancini in the press and I have to say I don't really understand it – he had a very good season. Our goals for next season are ambitious so we need a great coach and he is that person. He's happy, we're happy, Suning is happy so Mancini's staying."
