Inter Milan owner Oaktree keen to copy Chelsea BlueCo multi-club model
Oaktree Capital Management wants to copy Chelsea owner BlueCo’s strategy by acquiring a sister club for Inter Milan.
The global investment manager has allocated a budget of €25m-€40m (£20m-£35m) to buy a team from either the top division in Belgium or Portugal or the second tier in Spain, according to multiple Italian media reports.
It would create a multi-club network similar to BlueCo, which also owns Strasbourg and uses the French team to develop players for Chelsea and the wider business.
Belgium and Portugal are considered attractive leagues to invest in as they are renowned for nurturing talent and have a good technical level but the clubs remain relatively cheap.
They also have less strict rules on signing non-EU players, meaning they are useful leagues in which to park talent until they meet the requirements for Italy or England.
Oaktree is said to want to have a sister team for Inter Milan in place by the end of this season in order to plan recruitment for next summer’s transfer window.
Oaktree joining multi-club network bandwagon
It marks the next stage in Oaktree’s ownership of Inter, having acquired the club in May 2024 as a result of its previous owner defaulting on debt of almost €400m.
The club finished runner-up in Serie A and the Champions League during Oaktree’s first season as owner but last year claimed the domestic double.
Multi-club networks have rapidly grown in number in the last decade and there are now more than 100 of such groups worldwide controlling close to 400 teams.
The trend has been especially pronounced in Europe, where 17 per cent of all clubs – and 80 per cent of the Premier League – have ownership ties to others.
Manchester City’s parent company City Football Group is the biggest multi-club group, with 10 teams spanning Europe, the Americas, Asia and Oceania.
BlueCo has leveraged the system to shift 22 players and a head coach between Chelsea and Strasbourg in just three years.
But the networks can also cause problems if more than one club under the same ownership qualifies for the Champions League or other European competition.