MILAN - Javier Zanetti spoke about Suning's impact on Inter and his own career at a conference at Milan's Università degli Studi today.
A guest speaker at the event – entitled "China and global football: the Inter case study. Cultural and economic aspects" – the vice president responded to questions from journalist Marco Bellinazzo.
"When I finished my playing career I had no doubt about what I wanted to do. I wanted to carry on working for my club and defending the Inter cause just as I always did on the pitch.
“You have to be cut out to go into coaching and I prefer to work more behind the scenes. I really enjoy it and I'm happy to help the club any way I can.
“There's a whole world to discover out there and I need to listen to people who have more experience than me. I enjoy working as a club official because it gives me the chance to work with important figures like institutions, sponsors, the media and of course the fans. I'm in constant dialogue with other football officials and learning about all the latest management models.
"Massimo Moratti took me into this great club when no one knew who I was. I left a very small city and joined a big club like Inter, and over the years the bond grew stronger.
“One thing I learnt from him is how important it is to take big decisions conscientiously. Human values are quite rare in football but that's why I see Inter as a family.
“Now that I've hung my boots up things are changing faster than ever before. I'm studying and learning all I can about the sports business so that I can help the new owners. Football is evolving very quickly. You need to be very curious and clever enough to analyse things with a critical eye.
"All owners are different and you also have to remember that different owners work in different eras – and a different sort of planning is required in each. It's hard to compare owners, but one thing they all have in common is they have Inter's best interests at heart.
“Suning are working and planning very well. They're ambitious, they have plans, very clear ideas for the future and great respect for our club.
“They've clearly come in with an international approach. They've taken over a great club and they want to take Inter back to the top of the world game, which is where this club deserves to be.
"It's not easy to find a group willing to invest in Italian football and do so with such ambition. Steven Zhang is very young, very well-mannered and very intelligent. He really cares about Inter and what's best for this club. I'm very close to him and hopefully we can create a strong team off the pitch which can help bring results on the pitch.”
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