Report: Suning Commerce Group to purchase majority stake in Inter

According to Sky Sport in Italy, Inter's negotiations with Chinese group Suning are nearing their conclusion and could lead to a quite extraordinary outcome. They are reporting that the investors are set to acquire a 60% stake in the club, which would make them majority share holders, after making Erick Thohir an offer of approximately €650m that the current President has deemed too high to refuse. That would be almost twice as much as Thohir himself paid to purchase the club back in 2013.

Thohir would still remain President with a minority stake if these reports were to be accurate, but one man who would not stay put is Massimo Moratti. The Honorary President is said to be close to selling his own 30% share in the club to Suning, with the other 30% coming from Thohir's current share.

As far as the immediate future is concerned, this hypothetical deal would not change much on a sporting level. Inter's Financial Fair Play restrictions would remain unchanged for this summer transfer window, for instance, which means they will not suddenly have a whole new wad of cash to spend on transfers (at least not until next season, anyway), as much as that would be appreciated given our current financial situation. As well as this, Roberto Mancini's prospects as head coach would not be affected, as Thohir would not be relinquishing his role within the club and has always reiterated his desire to continue with him in charge, at least for another season.

This would nevertheless represent a very important turning point in the future of the club, so the best practice for now is to wait and see what happens in the coming days and weeks. As Thohir reminded a group of reporters at the opening of Inter's new club store last week, his own negotiations with Moratti back in 2013 lasted almost nine months in the end, so we shouldn't expect this deal to be completed in the next few hours. Anything could still happen.