Chinese retailer Suning Commerce Group is close to buying a leading stake in Italian club Inter, with a deal expected as early as this weekend.
Inter are the second Serie A club to attract Chinese interest, as Beijing pushes to turn the country into a soccer force by encouraging investment both at home and abroad.
Last month, former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi said exclusive talks had started with Chinese investors to sell a majority stake in Milan.
An acquisition of Inter would add to a growing stable of Chinese-owned soccer assets worldwide, including a stake in the group that owns clubs such as Manchester City and New York City FC, and recently Aston Villa.
Suning, which owns local club Jiangsu Suning, is one of China’s biggest private firms with annual revenue topping $20 billion.
“A deal with Suning is expected around June 5,” a source said.
A second source said talks with the Chinese conglomerate were ongoing, adding Suning’s final stake could be much larger than an originally mooted 20 per cent.
Inter are controlled by Indonesian tycoon Erick Thohir. Former owner Massimo Moratti has a stake of just under 30 per cent.
Corriere della Sera said Suning would buy 70 per cent of the club, valuing it at €750 million.
Moratti, whose family controls Italian oil refiner Saras, would sell his whole stake, Corriere said.
Inter had fallen on hard times since the 2010 treble, which in-cluded a Champions League final victory over Bayern Munich.
The club finished fourth in Serie A last season to miss out on a Champions League place.
Meanwhile, Inter announced yesterday they had signed Euro 2016-bound Turkey defender Caner Erkin as a free agent on a three-year contract.
The 27-year-old, who is in Turkey’s 23-man squad for this month’s European Championship in France, joins Inter after six years with Fenerbahce.
Argentina midfielder Ever Ba-nega is also set to join the Nerazzurri as a free agent in the summer transfer window.
Banega helped Sevilla lift the Europa League last month – their third straight triumph – to pick up his second winners’ medal in Europe’s second-tier competition.