Football
Ben Gladwell, Italy correspondent 9y

AC Milan and Inter Milan must unite, agent Mino Raiola says

AC Milan and Inter Milan must merge if they are to become strong again, according to high-profile agent Mino Raiola.

Milan and Inter are currently 12th and 11th respectively in Serie A and, not for the first time in recent seasons, the clubs are currently facing the prospect of missing out on European football next season.

Raiola, who represents players including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Mario Balotelli and Paul Pogba, believes that only by combining forces can they become great again

He told La Gazzetta dello Sport: "Milan and Inter must unite. They used to be the richest clubs in the world but they never became clubs who could develop further without [Milan owner Silvio] Berlusconi or [former Inter owner Massimo] Moratti.

"London is the only city where they can afford to have several teams at the highest level nowadays. Either a wealthy Chinese person comes along, buys up all the biggest assets in the world and says, 'I'm buying Milan and will pay to make them world champions,' or the Milanese teams are not going to go anywhere by themselves.

"The fans will either continue to watch two half teams or only one which could really challenge with Real and Barca. If these two clubs merged, they would also combine their turnovers -- instead of two clubs with 160 million euros, it would be one with 320 million euros -- and they could create a brand which could only grow."

It is a move that Raiola believes could also work in the Premier League, even with the congestion of London-based clubs.

"I thought about it," he said. "It's a strong brand which I believe has not yet been exploited: FC London. Paris Saint-Germain want to get rid of the 'Saint-Germain' part to be just Paris, and Milan needs to have FC Milano -- unique and identifiable the world over."

Raiola had considered buying a club in England, and revealed he was close to buying two Serie A clubs in the past.

"Did you know I was about to buy Napoli?" he said. "Together with [Udinese owner Giampaolo] Pozzo, before [Aurelio] De Laurentiis arrived. Then Aurelio came in and got himself a bargain. I was also close to Roma, before the Americans arrived.

"I had almost signed. I won't reveal who my partner was, but Unicredit [bank] was concerned. They said they had 30,000 branches in Rome and if they sold the club to me, they would all get burnt down."

Raiola, meanwhile, said he had abandoned his bid to run for FIFA presidency after Dutch FA president Michael van Praag declared his candidacy.

Sepp Blatter faces competition from Van Praag, Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, Luis Figo and Jerome Champagne for the role, and Raiola suggested his only concern was seeing Blatter unseated.

"It was a serious candidacy, but I've pulled out because Van Praag is standing," Raiola said. "It's a disgrace that in Italy, [FIGC president Carlo] Tavecchio is going to support Blatter. The federations should first hold an internal vote.

"In fact, it should not be up to the federations to decide, but up to the clubs. Even amateur ones -- each club gets one vote. But let's ask ourselves: what do we need FIFA for? To organise a World Cup? Wouldn't it be better if we all meet up every four years and decide among ourselves, and we can do all the rest via Skype?

"I don't get why people don't find it so scandalous that Blatter is representing [football]. [UEFA president Michel] Platini is not standing because he's afraid of losing, but I'm not."

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