San Siro or San Donato? Revived relations and a fluid future [Bonus Article]

Why was the San Siro statement expected, and how does it affect Milan?

Another stadium update, you say? A lot has been made about AC Milan and Inter’s official statement regarding San Siro, publicly confirming their desire to buy the area from the city council, but it was really far from surprising. At least if you’ve been reading our bonus articles on the stadium pursuit since the start, with the Rossoneri opting to keep two options alive.

It was on Tuesday last week that Milan and Inter announced their proposal for the San Siro stadium and area. They left out the details, of course, but the fans really only needed to know about their intentions: yay or nay? It certainly seems to be the former, with the club handing in a feasibility study and an economic offer for the area, while a potential design will have to wait for a later date.

One question remained unanswered by the statement, though, and that is how the San Donato project will be affected. The very fact that Milan and Inter even tabled a proposal for San Siro came as a surprise to some, but as we pointed out back in November, it was actually expected. Nevertheless, that still doesn’t tell us much about what the future holds.

Revived relations and political pressure

As is often the case, we have to rewind the tape a little to understand the situation fully. After initially focusing solely on San Donato, having been burned too many times by the San Siro hope, Milan changed their approach after a while. You could suggest that the initial difficulties in San Donato forced them to reconsider, but the main reasons have nothing to do with that project.

When Gerry Cardinale and RedBird first started working on a new stadium for Milan, they explored several options from La Maura (very close to San Siro) to Segrate and San Donato. The important thing to note here is that they did it without Inter, leaving the Zhang family - who were the owners of the Nerazzurri then - out in the cold. As a result, talks between the clubs were brought to a halt.