ITALIAN CHAMPIONS INTER MILAN SET FOR PRE-SEASON VISIT TO CHINA AS THEY PREPARE TO DEFEND SERIE A CROWN – SOURCES
- Tour not yet official but likely to be on last week of July and based in Chengdu with opponents not yet known
- Inter, owned by Chinese businessman Steven Zhang, last visited China for tour in 2019
Inter are planning a pre-season tour in China, sources at the club have told the South China Morning Post.
The Nerazzurri were officially crowned the 2023-24 Serie A champions with an historic victory in the derby over Milan earlier this week and are now planning for their title defence.
A source at Inter confirmed to the Post that they are close to finalising the tour but it is not yet official, and the plan is to visit Chengdu in the last week of July.
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It is unclear at this stage how many of Inter's biggest stars will be among the travelling party, given the proposed tour comes after two major continental tournaments, with the finals of the Uefa European Championship and CONMEBOL Copa America both scheduled for July 14.
Club captain Lautaro Martinez is expected to form part of the Argentina team which is looking to defend its Copa America crown in the United States, while several of Inter's European stars are likely to go far in the Euros in Germany.
Inter director Beppe Marotta recently suggested Napoli's Piotr Zielinski and Porto striker Mehdi Taremi are likely to arrive on free transfers, so fans in China could see the two new boys in action.
Inter, who are owned by Chinese businessman Steven Zhang, last visited the country in 2019.
On that occasion, they arrived after a clash with Manchester United in Singapore, before encounters with Juventus in Nanjing, and Paris Saint-Germain in Macau, both ended 1-1.
Inter were also in China ahead of the 2017-18 season, as they faced Schalke 04 and Lyon, before going on to win the International Champions Cup in Singapore that season, overcoming Bayern Munich and Chelsea.
Having won Serie A for a 20th time, Inter will be hoping to bring some new faces to China for their pre-season tour, as they look to retain the Scudetto next season, and target a return to the Uefa Champions League final.
Inter unexpectedly reached the showpiece in 2023, where they were narrowly beaten 1-0 by Treble-winning Manchester City.
This season more was expected and, despite only finishing second behind Real Sociedad in their group, Inter were still considered favourites in their last-16 clash with Atletico Madrid.
But despite dominating the tie across both legs, a late Memphis Depay goal for the Rojiblancos in the return helped send the match to penalties, where the Italian side were defeated.
It represented a huge disappointment for the Nerazzurri, whose domestic form this campaign has been excellent. With five matches remaining, they could yet break the 100-point barrier.
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This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.
Copyright (c) 2024. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
2024-04-27T14:05:01Z dg43tfdfdgfd
