Oaktree Capital have already made clear hints at their “Made in USA” strategy for Inter Milan in their first few months as owners.
Today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews, highlight the apparent balance between financial stability and growth on the pitch that the Nerazzurri owners strive for.
The process that saw Oaktree take over as Inter owners was something of a soap opera.
In May of this year, the US fund took over the Nerazzurri from former owners Suning.
This followed a failure by the previous owners to repay their debt to Oaktree from a May 2021 loan.
But now, it has started to feel like Oaktree have been here for years.
Part of the reason for that is that the current owners have hardly made sweeping changes to the way the club has run from when Suning were at the helm.
The former owners had largely gotten Inter onto a positive path after the financial calamities that followed the COVID-19 path. Even if they were not able to remain in control.
But there are signs that Oaktree will do a few things differently.
Oaktree Give Clear Hints Of “Made In USA” Path For Inter
Oaktree are hardly the first big US fund to take over a European football club.
And that was something of a source of apprehension at first.
The question was always how much Oaktree would look to implement their own philosophy.
So far the answer appears to be, not all that much. The owners have stuck with the sporting structure that Suning had implemented.
However, Oaktree will certainly look to focus on the financial side of things.
As the Gazzetta notes, in Suning’s last fiscal year at Inter, the losses dropped from €85 million to €36 million.
And Oaktree are vehement on the need to reduce that further. They could even strive for a balanced budget in the next set of accounts.
But at the same time, the US-based owners are willing to inject cash.
This past summer transfer window was the first in some time in which Inter did not have the looming cloud of needing to make a profit in the transfer window.
However, at the same time, Oaktree see the transfer market as an investment.
The US-based owners have made it clear that they want to focus on investing in younger players.
