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AC Milan and Inter have officially acquired San Siro from the City Council, as well as some of the surrounding areas.
An official press release on Wednesday afternoon confirmed the long-awaited news that the current stadium has passed into the hands of the two clubs. It is the first big step in the stadium project, with the new home for Milan and Inter set to be built next to it.
The key details
The San Siro stadium now belongs to AC Milan and Inter, no longer to the City of Milan. As mentioned, the signatures on the deed arrived this morning, marking the purchase of the historic Stadio Giuseppe Meazza and the surrounding areas by the clubs.
Milan and Inter received a bank loan of just over €90m and paid the City the first instalment of €73m for the purchase of the area. The final price will be €197m, after which the City will deduct a €22m contribution for the reconstruction of the Patroclo tunnel directly behind the stadium, and for land reclamation.
The City Council had approved the sale to the clubs in September and it was then given the green light after a vote in the City Hall last month. The threshold for that vote was reached by a very narrow margin in the end, after days of deliberation about which way certain councillors would go.
Then, all the documents had to be signed before November 10. On that date the stadium would have been recognised as a monument of historic importance under Italian law, if it were still publicly owned. That would have prevented any demolition of the second tier, a vital pre-requisite for the plans.
Milan and Inter published a statement on their official websites confirming the news that they have bought San Siro and the land around it, but the resistance from those who oppose the demolition of the stadium and the construction of a new facility is not over.
The courts will inevitably be involved in the coming months. This morning, ANSA reported that the Milan Prosecutor’s Office is investigating bid-rigging. Promoter Claudio Trotta – one of the founders of the Sì Meazza Committee, opposed to the new facility – was interviewed by prosecutors.
Trotta revealed that he had wanted to submit a bid for the stadium, but was unable to participate in the City’s tender process due to the tight deadline. So, there could yet be more legal battles before the first bricks go down.
What happens now?
Now the transfer of the deeds has been completed, what comes next? The focus will be on the new stadium project, which Foster + Partners and Manica are already working on as the two firms entrusted with the design project.
Some details are already known. The ‘new San Siro’ (while waiting for possible information on naming rights) will seat 71,500 spectators, have two tiers, and be oval in shape, without the red support beams that make the current San Siro so iconic.
The stands will have a 37-degree incline, something that is inspired by the existing stadium and other iconic venues such as the Yellow Wall in Dortmund. The idea is to build a fixed roof covering the stands but not the pitch, with high-performance soundproofing.
The roof above the stands will be partially treated with sound-absorbing material, and the facades behind the stands will have noise-reducing grilles. This will allow the Curva Sud and the Curva Nord of Milan and Inter respectively to roar to their hearts’ content.
The developments around the stadium itself are critical, too. An area of 280,000m² will be occupied only in part by the stadium itself, and the rest by commercial spaces and parks. Offices, at least one hotel, shops and even the new headquarters of the two clubs are expected to be there.
The state of the art stadium will be built on a podium and the idea is to have a museum and club store in the plaza in front of the stands. The portion of the Meazza that remains standing will be used for commercial and entertainment areas, perhaps a museum that shows how things once were.
The grand plan is to have the new stadium ready for the 2032 European Championship and a host venue. So, the five-step plan is as follows:
- Sign paperwork: November 5 ✅
- Full designs: Next 9-12 months
- Early work begins on new San Siro: Early 2027
- Completion of the project and demolition beginning: 2031
- Host the European Championship: 2032
San Siro demolition: info emerges
As mentioned above, the existing Meazza stadium will be almost fully demolished but not entirely. Now, some more details and even some mock-ups have made it clearer what will remain standing.
A wedge of the south-east corner is what should remain, including part of the ‘orange’ stand and part of the Curva Sud, which is where Milan’s ultras have been for decades. Reports suggest around 90% of the present San Siro will be reduced to rubble.
Either way, it is very clear that there will be very little left from the concrete behemoth that sits there now. Initially it was believed that one of the spiral towards would survive the wrecking ball too, but the renders seem to suggest not.
The demolition will begin from the roof and the third tier and proceed downward. Some artefacts will surely come out of the rubble that results (imagine owning a bit of San Siro?), but a lot of the material will be repurposed.
Milan president Paolo Scaroni – upon leaving the notary’s office – smiled as he reacted to the deal’s conclusion. He uttered just one line: “Good things always take time.” This has taken a lot of time, but finally there has been a leap forward.
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