NEW YORK - Erick Thohir was interviewed on Class CNBC at the New York Stock Exchange this morning. Here you can read what the president had to say.
"I studied in the United States and I've stayed in touch with lots of people so it's like a second home to me. It's been a great experience for us in America this summer – not only for our team and our tour but also because we visited the United Nations, thanks to the work done by Inter Campus in 29 countries.
"It's important to support these children as through football they can help to change things. We really are Brothers of the World and football can reach lots of people and improve their lives.
"Ban Ki-moon is world-famous but he's really down to earth too. He occupies a very important role yet is humble at the same time. Inter are honoured that such a prestigious world figure came to watch our game.
"It's never easy to make predictions in football and there are lots of things to discuss – you have to work together and share ideas if you want to achieve great things. The coach has a crucial role and our coach has a good relationship with the club. We don't always agree on everything but the relationship is good. It's important that everyone is able to express their views so that we can work together as a team.
"The transfer window is an important period and the fans always want to see new faces. We're working together in this pre-season. We've had some tricky matches and we need to work even harder because the fans expect more.
"Players come and go but we're a big club and we want to keep hold of our best players. We've signed 15 players over the last two seasons and if you look at our first-choice XI there only two in there who were playing for us a few years ago. We'll try to add to the squad but we don't need seven or eight new players like last year.
"Banega is a great signing and we need a competitive squad because we'll be playing in the Europa League as well this season.
“Icardi is an important player for the team and he's our captain.
“Transfers are decided by the management and Suning together. In football it's important that the coach, the sporting director and the management all share the same vision. The decision on whether to buy a player or not doesn't depend on me alone – I have to speak to my team.
“Now we need to understand, together with Suning, how we can make Inter even better
"People have said that I oversaw a period of transition and it's true – I can't deny that. We've upgraded San Siro, our revenue has increased from 164 to 186 million euro and we now have 311 million fans, so I'm very happy with the transition.
"The new owner Mr Zhang has reiterated the importance of the management and the team working together to make sure that Inter can grow.
“Do we need to buy new players? Possibly but in any case our aim is to be competitive and qualify for the Champions League.
“As a businessman I'm always prepared to listen. Companies here at Wall Street are always on the lookout for new partners to help them grow and it's the same for us. If I hadn't been willing to listen to the new investors, Inter might not have grown so quickly. The Asian market is growing but our heart remains in Italy. I believe, as president of Inter, that I have made the best decisions for the club, not myself.
“One player I'd love to see at Inter is an important player for the team, not for me: Messi would be my dream signing. He's one of the world's best players and club would love to have him.”
Erick Thohir continued his morning in the Financial District with a visit to Bloomberg.
