Steven Zhang, the 28-year old Chinese billionaire who chairs Inter Milan has ruled out any and all possibility of selling Mauro Icardi to their Serie A rivals, after the Argentine forward was stripped of his position as Inter’s captain. Several changes into the boardroom have sparked multiple possibilities over the striker’s future.
The club’s new Board of Directors was approved on Monday after Chinese private-equity fund LionRock Capital’s purchased a 31.05% stake from Indonesian businessman and former owner Erick Thohir, following Steven Zhang’s Suning Commerce Group who bought 68.55% of the club’s stakes from Thohir for €270m back in 2016, thereby taking over the Italian club.
Icardi’s present deal with Inter runs out in 2021, and disputes with the club over renewal of the deal prompted the 26-year old striker to move out of Milan, and as per statements from Juventus’ sporting director Fabio Paratici, the Serie A champions will be keeping a close eye on Icardi.
Following Paratici’s statements, Zhang has come out and ruled out the possibility of selling Icardi to Juventus.
“Will Icardi ever join Juventus? No, never,” he said after a shareholders’ meeting at the San Siro.
“We are in negotiations to renew his contract, and he’s an important player for this club,” Zhang added.
