The journey is still long, but now Inter and Milan are moving forward quickly towards the construction of a new San Siro next to the current one. In the next few hours, the Municipality will begin evaluating the financial proposal and the feasibility project that outlines the guidelines for the purchase of the Meazza and the adjacent areas.
The document was undergoing final revisions by the lawyers of the two American owners, Oaktree and RedBird, last night when going to press. Whether it was delivered via certified email last night (in the evening... American time) or will be sent today is now a detail.
The path is now clear because the two clubs agree on all key aspects, and Mayor Giuseppe Sala confirmed this while speaking on Rtl 102.5: "The law tells us that, having the offer, we still have to make a public call – the Milanese mayor began – but it is clear that it will be based on an area dedicated to football. The law then tells us that the private negotiation can start. We will examine this offer and report it to the City Council. The call will last about 30-45 days, and the goal is to sell the stadium and the areas to the teams for the summer holidays." Therefore, next summer could be an important time, but the start of construction remains far off. First, the go-ahead from the Conference of Services is needed, which, according to the Stadium Law, must be concluded within 18 months; otherwise, a commissioner will be appointed. Sala himself made it clear that the steps are still numerous and emphasized that no invasive work is expected at San Siro until the inauguration ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. "After that, the clubs will start building a new stadium next to the Meazza. It will take several years to complete, and when it is ready, they will regenerate the old stadium, which, in my opinion, is destined to remain as we know it until 2030."
Spectators and details regarding the San Siro issue:
The file that the Municipality will have to analyze and evaluate will be about two hundred pages long: it will include costs, volumes, environmental impact (a very delicate issue, especially regarding residents' concerns), and, of course, the methods for repurposing the Meazza.
The goal is to complete the bureaucratic process before additional constraints linked to the 70th anniversary of the stadium come into effect. Excluding administrative procedures and appeals to the Regional Administrative Court, work could begin in 2027 and, as Sala anticipated, end in 2030. The stadium, which will be built where the parking lots currently are (behind the West sector), will have a capacity of 71,500 seats, including 13,000 for "corporate" and "hospitality" areas. The surrounding area will include 55,000 square meters of green space and 72,000 square meters of underground parking. The project for the new home of the Milan clubs has not yet been defined, and it is possible that the commission will go to Populous, the American architectural firm that already worked on the Cathedral "unveiled" in 2021. The total investment will exceed a billion: let's say between 1 and 1.5 billion.
The two funds owning Milan and Inter will bear most of the cost. Most of the funds will come through American banks, Jp Morgan and Bank of America, as well as Italian ones like Banco Bpm. What will happen to the Scala del Calcio? It will not be entirely demolished, and the project by the two clubs, called "Docfap," foresees that part of the Curva Sud (the stand for the Rossoneri ultras) and the stand to its right will not be torn down. This will leave a kind of amphitheater, which will be used for other activities.
Demolition work will only begin once the new San Siro is ready. In the area surrounding the new stadium, the headquarters of the two clubs, a hotel, commercial spaces, and parks totaling 280,000 square meters will be built. The two clubs will increase their seasonal revenue from the stadium to 130 million euros.
Source: La Gazzetta dello Sport
