Will Milan Ever Be Sold?

Does Berlusconi have something up his sleeve? Image: Getty

And the saga continues. I’ve written multiple articles, each contradicting my last, a testament to how crazy and disorganized the sale of the Rossoneri has been. When we last left off, everything seemed fine and dandy, the closing set for March 3rd, and for everything to finally be over. As I’ve learned throughout these years, anything with Milan is not that simple. Now, the Chinese “consortium” has dwindled down to one person, who now seems unable to put up the funds to finance the acquisition. So the question is… Will Milan ever switch hands?

Maybe, Maybe Not.

There’s no definitive answer as of yet, but Berlusconi seems to be content to let Sino-Europe acquire the funds. He is racking up the money, €100 million at a time. One has to question the legitimacy of these buyers, conspiracy theories ranging from a money-laundering scheme to offshore reserves as to avoid taxes circling around the deal. What took rivals Inter only a couple of months is taking Milan a couple of years, and they need to act quick if they don’t want to risk missing yet another transfer window. The entire club is at a standstill, and until someone makes up their mind, Milan will be unable to improve their position in the league.

Whether the deal will go through is based on a number of factors, including government restrictions, the consortium’s credibility and availability of funds, and Berlusconi’s willingness to sell the club. If anyone of these goes wrong, we could be in store for yet another chapter in the infamous saga of the sale of Milan.

Who are the buyers?

The buyers, otherwise known as Sino-Europe Sports, or SES, are a group of Chinese investors. It is still unclear as to who exactly these investors are; most parties have already announced that they have no part in the deal. Yonghong Li, the manager of the consortium, has failed to acquire the necessary funds to purchase the remainder of Milan, and the value of the Chinese has come into question. They were previously valued at over €1 trillion, mostly due to several of China’s largest banks being included in the deal, a ludicrous amount that seems highly unlikely considering they don’t even have the €320 million needed to complete the purchase.

The ambiguity of these buyers is particularly concerning. Bee Taechaubol, otherwise known as Mr. Bee, was the prior party who was interested, but a breakdown in talks along with a lack of funds led to a failure in the sale. How is it that Milan have managed to prolong what was supposed to be a short transaction into a five part movie franchise? The Chinese restrictions aren’t particularly helpful. The Chinese government isn’t exactly keen on the fact that their businessmen spend outrageously large sums on acquiring these sports teams, and this would be the single largest acquisition in their history.

What happens if the deal falls through?

If it never happens, then what? Well, for starters, Berlusconi gets to keep all the money, all the hundreds of millions of euros to himself, which would be a genius financial transaction, if I say so myself. Berlusconi has loved Milan, and he seems to be willing to keep Milan if the deal were to fall through, but the Italian seems confident in the Chinese fulfilling their side of the bargain. The club could also later be passed down to his children, including Barbara Berlusconi, who is very familiar with the club, being part of the Board of Directors. The children would have quite a legacy to follow, as the former Prime Minister has had incredible success with the club, guiding them to five Champions League trophies, one of the reasons they are now the most titled club in the world.

For now, Milan fans will have to wait, something we’ve become all too accustomed too in recent years.