Inter president Zhang discusses Maldini’s sacking and admits desire for ‘competitive’ Milan

The president of Inter, Steven Zhang, has spoken about the sacking of Paolo Maldini and also revealed his desire to see a competitive AC Milan side.

The dust is still settling after the news broke less than 24 hours following the final game of the season against Hellas Verona that Maldini and sporting director Ricky Massara have both been sacked from their roles.

A new management team is expected to lead the Rossoneri forward, one led by chief scout Geoffrey Moncada and CEO Giorgio Furlani, but it obviously casts some doubts on the health of the project and the plans moving forward.

Zhang was interviewed by La Gazzetta dello Sport and it was released on the eve of Inter’s Champions League final against Manchester City in Istanbul. He was asked about the decision to sack Maldini by their rivals.

“It’s a very delicate issue, investing in another management and a great character like Maldini who won like this a lot at the club,” he said.

“Obviously people were very surprised by this separation, but these are things that happen in football. A stable and competitive Milan is also a stimulus for Inter, let’s grow together.”

Tags AC Milan Paolo Maldini Steven Zhang

12 Comments

    1. Usually in the European cup competitions I root for the Italian teams no matter what. But reading some of those interviews with Inter guys before the CL make me hope that Man City blows them away.
      Deadbeat club that can barely pay their bills and now they’re running their mouth.

  1. Always wondering how Inter gets advantage over Milan in the past few decades. We are more popular and in Italy and World with better chances of gaining more revenue, but still. Even in Ancelotti era they were a tough opponent, and we only had slighter advantage over them considering the squad we had. Their past decade success reason is simple, their management is more ambitious and they hire better coaches and does good business. See their outgoing player value compare to Milan. They sells players at a premium while we let them go free or cheap. When a team is playing good attractive game under a well established coach, the value sky rockets.
    Even now, Inzaghi is miles ahead of Pioli tactically.

    1. How is that working out for them financially? There is a significant risk of Inter defaulting on a massive loan they borrowed to stay afloat. Milan are no longer having such issues. There has to be a balance between sustainability and competitiveness.

      1. Still, Inter gets massive sales done while Milan left probably 150 million € on the table with all those guys leaving on a free transfer.

        1. Sure but would you rather Milan make 150 million euros off of player sales AND be in debt hundreds of millions of dollars or buy younger players in a sustainable model while watching a few players leave for free?

          The point being is you cannot choose what part of management is successful and ignore the other part just to support your narrative. You have to look at the whole picture.

        2. Inter had -230M€ on transfers, then they sold lukaku and hakimi to make it -65M (2021) and summer 2022 they made it -100M€. so much for their massive sales. and that was just the last 5 years i looked. and what they won in that time?
          Not to mention they are already -17M€ for 23/24

    2. The trend of players leave for free won’t end. It’s just the way contract is, the player got the last call. If they didn’t want to leave and don’t want to renew contract then nothing can be done.

  2. Let’s grow together… Milan as the biggest club in Italy, Inter going bankrupt and rebooting in Serie C 🤣
    I give this guy less than a year as owner.

  3. Worst decision ever, Maldini and Massara masterminded AC Milan resurgence. This American owner is either brave or too hopped up on his own ego (as is normally the case) to sack Maldini who is a Milan living legend, sales will suffer and Milan will no longer we a top 4 team.

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