Serie A: Inter set target for Inzaghi, look for new sponsors

Inter must balance the books, so qualification for the 2023-24 Champions League is the ‘minimum target’ while Nerazzurri directors look for new sponsorship deals as fees paid by Chinese sponsors have hit rock bottom.

The objective comes after the news that the Nerazzurri are yet to receive any of the agreed sponsorship fees from shirt sponsor DigitalBits for the 2022-23 season.

Inter CEO Alessandro Antonello spoke about the matter after an ECA Board meeting in Milan on Wednesday.

I want to highlight that the club is looking for a new partner and we are in advanced talks with several subjects,” he said.

“These negotiations are demanding in terms of time, but we are confident that we’ll have a new shirt sponsor for next season.”

Qualification for next season’s Champions League will provide key incomes for next season, this is why a top-four finish is “Inter’s minimum target,” in 2022-23, sand Antonello. According to reports on Tuttosport, Inter have already pocketed an estimated €58m from their run to the last 16 of the competition.

In the event of qualifying for the quarter-finals after the second leg of their Round of 16 fixture against Porto, that prize will naturally increase.

This source of income is seen as a vital necessity after the emergency injection of €10m from majority shareholders Suning on February 22.

The €10m lifeline came out of a €300m loan from the asset management firm Oaktree Capital. Of that €300m, it is believed that only around €90m still remains available.

Inter have been receiving considerably less money from their sponsorship partners in China compared to recent seasons.

The contract for the naming right of the club’s Pinetina training ground has been vacant since Suning terminated their own deal on June 30, 2022. It is estimated that Inter’s income from the region of China has fallen to around €2m.

At the height of their partnerships between 2016-19, Inter were collecting around €100m per season from Chinese sponsors.

And it is not only DigitalBits who have fallen through on their financial commitments to the Nerazzurri.

Chinese digital marketing agency IMedia paid the Nerazzurri just €150,000 of their agreed fees of around €23m.

Now, it is down to the club to find new sources of income. Ebay was added to the Inter shirts as sleeve sponsors in a deal estimated to be worth around €5m per season.

At the start of the season, Inter also announced a new multi-year partnership with Konami to sponsor the club’s training kits and youth development centre.