At home Inter’s head is on the pitch, but in the meantime, outside the playing rectangle, Inter cashes in on an equally valuable victory. And it’s not just about points: immediately 30 million in the till
Inter, colpo da maestro di Marotta: subito 30 milioni in cassa – SerieAnews
Tonight Inter-Verona, the penultimate home match of the season for the Nerazzurri, will be staged at the San Siro, but the attention of the team and the fans is already focused on Tuesday, when Barcelona will arrive in Milan for the return leg of the Champions League semifinal.
A match worth a season, perhaps more. Yet while Inzaghi works on the field to write another piece of recent history, in the offices of Viale della Liberazione another game is moving, made up of documents, clauses and rulings. Yes, because if on the field the ball is rolling, off it is time for strategies.
Inter, bilanci sempre sotto osservazione: autofinanziarsi è la chiave
Those familiar with the club’s economic situation know that every euro counts. The mantra has long been clear: self-financing. Inter cannot afford breakaways or headshots: sustainability remains at the heart of the project. That is why every operation, even the smallest, is evaluated with surgical care.
With ownership still in transition and spending margins closely tied to sporting results and revenues generated, the goal is to build a competitive team without going off the rails. For this reason, news like the one coming out of Switzerland is pure gold for the club’s coffers. Not only for the amount of money at stake, but for the message they send: Inter is solid off the field as well, it knows how to defend itself and make its case in the right places.
Joao Mario, una clausola da 30 milioni aggirata con intelligenza
Giuseppe Marotta, once again, has been able to move with coolness and experience. This is confirmed by the recent ruling of the TAS in Lausanne, which gave Inter a full right in the long diatribe with Sporting Lisbon over the issue related to Joao Mario. An outcome that has symbolic value, but also very, very concrete: as much as 30 million euros saved.
Let’s take a step back. It was 2016 when Thohir’s Inter shelled out about 45 million euros to secure Joao Mario from Sporting. It was a major investment, but one that never paid off on the pitch. After fluctuating seasons, in July 2021 the Portuguese released himself from the Nerazzurri club only to sign, just a day later, with Benfica, Sporting’s direct rival in Portugal. And it is here that the dispute arises.
According to the original agreements between the two clubs, in the event of the player’s future transfer to a domestic rival, Inter would have to pay Sporting as much as an additional 30 million euros. A hefty clause, put in black and white at the time of the transfer.
However, the Inter management knew how to move carefully: Joao Mario was not technically “sold” to Benfica, but first released at zero and then signed as a free agent. A formally flawless move that allowed the Italian club to circumvent that economic obligation.
Sporting Lisbon never accepted it, claiming that an existing agreement was behind the release. That is why it took Inter Milan first to FIFA and then to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Both petitions were rejected.
The Nerazzurri defense, led by lawyer Angelo Capellini, managed to prove the full regularity of the transaction. And so, years later, the Milanese club can put a period to this affair, avoiding a disbursement that would have weighed, big time, on the budget.
A stroke of finesse rather than strength. One of those moves that tell the other side of modern soccer: one where paperwork counts as much as dribbling. And where, often, real victories are built far away from the stadium.
This article Inter, Marotta’s masterstroke: immediately 30 million in cash appeared first on SerieANews.
