Suning-Inter press conference recap: "We want to restore the club's glorious past"
This morning (9am Italy time) the two parties will hold a press conference in Nanjing, follow it live with CM.com
9.14: Press conference begins 'Suning have acquired a 68.55% stake in Inter'
Zhang Jindong (Chairman of Suning Group): "Thanks everyone for being here, it is a pleasure for me to be here with all of you. I am sure you are as thrilled as me, because entering the room you’ve seen the images of the trophies won by Inter. We are now part of one of the best European clubs. I’ve always been in sync with Thohir, I've known him for a very long time. I’ve been to Milan to meet and get to know Moratti. He has told me: “Be passionate and give your best for Inter”. This is a mission for us and a very important responsibility. Thanks to Thohir for choosing us among lot of other partners."
Inter will be part of the growth of Suning that wants to amplify its business beyond Asia. The sporting spirit is everywhere in the world, football has no borders. Inter were the first club to visit Asia 38 years ago, today it is the team with the most fans on our territory and we believe that we’ll help the club to become even more international, we’ll strengthen the club. Moratti bought a lot of champions and we want to follow his path, restoring their glorious past. When I went to San Siro I become an Interista straight-away"
Erick Thohir: “Dear guests, thanks for your participation and thanks to president Zhang. I am honoured of being here and I want to say that a partnership between Inter and Suning will be a successful one. Football is a growing importance in China and we are proud of your decision to invest in our club. Our history is 108 years long and we are brothers in the world. We have players from all over the world and Javier Zanetti is a symbol of this. He will be coming to China with the rest of the team for the next five years."
"As Zhang said earlier, we were the first team to visit China back in 1978. Moratti couldn’t be here, but he sends his greetings and I want to thank him for supporting the partnership with Suning. They will bring better resources and invest in new infrastructures and players. I am also talking to our sponsors Pirelli and Nike, they’ll also support the partnership and all together we’ll be building a stronger team. Come on Inter and come on Suning!”
Javier Zanetti: “Being here is really exciting. I am honoured to represent my club in this moment. We have a great history, amazing values and unique, special fans. A big group like Suning arrives now, they have competences and resources. We all have to do an amazing job and make our fans happy. Our objective for next season is to be successful in all the competitions we enter and qualify for Champions League.”
