AC Milan 'Fully Embrace' Plans to Build New €600m Stadium After 93 Years in San Siro
AC Milan could be set to move away from the San Siro for the first time in almost 100 years, as reports in Italy claim that the club have 'fully embraced' the idea of building a new stadium.
Giuseppe Meazza - one of the largest stadiums in Europe - has been home to the Rossoneri since 1926, and has been ground-shared with city rivals inter since 1947, and was expected to be renovated in the years to come to keep it in line with the elite modern stadia.
📆 | ON THIS DAY IN 1980
— Inter (@Inter_en) March 2, 2019
The stadium at San Siro was named after the legendary Giuseppe Meazza!
Do you know the history of our stadium? 🏟️ pic.twitter.com/Z299hGVreG
Reports in Repubblica (via sempremilan.com), however, say that Milan are sold on the idea of investing €600m in a 'new San Siro' just a few hundred yards from their current location, and the only thing missing is confirmation from the city of Milan.
It's not clarified whether Inter are on board with the idea, but if plans go ahead, it's expected that they will continue to share, as the report details plans for separate entrances for the two sides.
The new stadium is likely to have a reduced capacity of 60,000, down from the 80,000+ of the current San Siro, and will be modelled on New York's MetLife Stadium.
Milan and Inter have decided, according to la Repubblica, to build a new stadium together, instead of renovating San Siro. The new stadium seats 60,000 to 65,000 spectators. The MetLife stadium in New York is mainly seen as an example, because it is used by two clubs. pic.twitter.com/mmEYoQRVKc
— AC Forza Milan 1️⃣9️⃣🇮🇹🏆 (@ACForzaMilano) March 4, 2019
Central to the plans would be the sale of the naming rights, which are likely to be sold for around €25m per year, and would likely see the name pre-fixed by that of a sponsor, similar to Bayern Munich's Allianz Arena.
No timeline is placed on the plans, but the report suggests that the upcoming Milan derby on March 17th could be 'one of the last' at the current stadium - so building could be accelerated if that's anything to go by.