OPINION: Should Inter and Milan merge to remain competitive?
Are Ernesto Paolillo and Mino Raiola right about Milan? Barring a miracle, Italy's main financial hub won't be represented in the Champions League for the third season in a row.
Fans are having to accept teams that pale in comparison to the good times, to the era when AC Milan won 5 Champions Leagues in under 20 years, and when Inter at least spent enough to compete at the international level.
Of late, Inter and Milan have earned 247 points less than Juventus (125 to 122, respectively). The Nerazzurri can't seem to find new investors to come in with Bee Taechaubol, and tensions are beginning to grow between the Indonesian magnate and former owner (and minority shareholder) Massimo Moratti.
Silvio Berlusconi, for his part, can't find someone to buy the club from him. Bee Taechaubol can't find any of the investors he said he would find.
With Juventus flooring the rest of Italy and laughing at the competition, and with a budget that in no way compares to Europe's elite, would a fusion between the two clubs be the only way of returning to the top?
"A merger between Milan and Inter is the only way to regain competitiveness in Europe" Paolillo believes "Otherwise the city of Milan will be excluded from Europe's elite for many years".
Raiola, for his part, believes that "Milan and Inter need to merge. They used to be the richest clubs in the world but have shown that they can't keep at it without Berlusconi and Moratti's money."
"The fans can either keep watching two half teams," Raiola continues "or a full one which is capable of fighting with Real and Barca".
Gianluca Minchiotti (@GianluMin), translated by @EdoDalmonte
