If we were a banker, one of those who have become rich and famous at the expense of customers and savers, we would have no doubts. The harsh laws of finance impose a merger between Milan and Inter. Let's do the math: together they have more Scudettos than Juve, together they have ten Champions Leagues (incidentally, a result achieved in 2010 with Inter's Treble, therefore before Real Madrid's Tenth), together they would finally fill a stadium, that of San Siro, which with its 82 seats is now obsolete in the era of football TV.
Together they would probably have the financial strength to challenge the big European clubs, putting on the plate that hundred million every year which is the minimum investment to be at the table of Bayern, Manchester, Real and Barcelona. So far the bankers. But anyone who even casually follows the events of football knows very well that the hypothesis is simply unpronounceable. In fact, there isn't a single Inter or Milan fan willing to put up with such an idea, better to abandon football.
In Milan, the rivalry between the two city teams is less exaggerated than elsewhere. In Rome or Genoa, winning the derby can give meaning to the season. And the same goes for Toro, when he puts the Agnelli family under the team of the boss. It's different in Milan, despite the fact that the Inter fans show up at every derby with large "Milan is us" banners, which betray their great gripe: being the second team in the city, given that it is Milan that bear their name. Committed to writing the history of football, of which they anticipated all the revolutions (from the Italian one of Nereo Rocco to the total one of Arrigo Sacchi), the Rossoneri fans have always looked with a certain detachment to these over-the-country controversies.
This does not mean that they are willing to suffer everything. And in particular to become a kind of branch of Inter. The facts are known. There
new Chinese ownership has entrusted the role of managing director of Milan to Marco Fassone, a football manager with a questionable past. Graduated in Literature, Fassone got off to a good start as manager of Juventus. Had he been good he would have stayed there. But he moved on to Napoli. Had he been good, he would have stayed there. But he moved on to Inter, where he managed to make the fans hate him until, a year ago, he was fired. And he was out and about when the Chinese arrived. Fassone started building the managerial team, but
without much imagination. As sporting director he looked for Piero Ausilio, who does the same job at Inter and who gave him a spade.
At this point, despite almost all the Italian sports directors being willing to make false papers to go to Milan, he chose Ausilio's deputy, Massimo Mirabelli. Since the Rossoneri team, in the last quarter of a century, has had some of the most charismatic footballers in the world, never moved to corporate roles due to the ostracism of Galliani who feared being overshadowed, one could imagine that a Boban, a Maldini or an Albertini would have been co-opted by the new owners. Nothing, and the fear is that, even if this were to happen, it would be for a role of mere representation.
The fact of drawing from Inter is not so serious for the city rivalry, but for a much more serious reason. As everyone knows, even if no one regrets Galliani by now, Milan has long been a corporate model, and this was the real strength. Some evident signs remain of this strength. Also last year the Rossoneri club, seventh in the championship, finished second in terms of revenues, 200 million against the 323 of Juventus which precedes it. But Juve collected 75 million from the Champions League, in which Milan did not participate, not to mention the higher stadium revenues, obviously linked to the teams' performance. And Milan remains, despite the blurring of the sporting image, in first place in terms of sales and sponsorships (75 million).
In all these rankings, Inter figure distant, surpassed even by Rome and Naples. The reason is soon said. Massimo Moratti was a great patron, willing to fill the gaps in management for years until, when the price of oil started to fall, he was no longer able to keep up and sold. But he has never been interested in organization charts, budgets, sponsors and other boring matters. The result is that, from a corporate point of view, Inter has always had an amateur dimension. So anyone understands that setting up a corporate structure with Inter's waste is the most amazing thing that could have happened. The fans are highly suspicious and await the January transfer market to see their fears confirmed or denied. But even if they did a sumptuous acquisition campaign, the doubt would remain: who advised Sino-Europe to rely on Fassone and his gang? Perhaps one of those bankers mentioned at the beginning, one who thinks of merging Inter and Milan. A perfect operation for a perfect cretin.
