Italian tyre manufacturer will no longer by the Inter Milan shirt sponsor from the start of next season, it has been revealed.
Pirelli chief executive Marco Tronchetti Provera has announced that the deal, which is believed to be around £10m a year for the space on the Serie A outfit's shirts will not be renewed, though the "relationship with the club will continue".
"We are in talks with (Alessandre) Antonello, (Beppe) Marotta (chief executives) and other Inter directors," he told Gr Parlamento.
It's believed that the pandemic may well be a key factor in this partnership ending. Suning Holdings Group, who own a majority stake in Inter, are said to be looking to Chinese companies who may be interested in taking the sponsorship baton. Pirelli actually have a 0.37% stake in Inter, too.
Inter Milan are undergoing a rebrand at the moment, with a new club crest imminent. Rumours suggest that the club could be ditching the "CF" from the logo to just spell "IM".
Nike, however, are set to continue their manufacturing of the official Inter kits. The American giants have been delivering Inter shirts since 1998, this year producing the first zig-zag shirts in the club's history, along with a third version of the classic grey/black hooped third shirts that the club wore in the 90s.
Who are the first players that you think of when you see each of these sponsors? pic.twitter.com/nVXIvxfXD8March 3, 2021
Pirelli has become one of the most iconic shirt sponsors of all time, appearing mostly in white and yellow on the front of Inter's shirts. It's instantly synonymous with the likes of Javier Zanetti, Ronaldo, Adriano and Zlatan Ibrahimovic and it's believed the company has contributed around €250m over the years to I Nerazzurri.
Inter haven't just had Pirelli as sponsors in the past, though. Misura is perhaps their other most iconic sponsor, having adorned the club's kits in the 1980s. FitGar and Cesare Fiorucci both sponsored Inter in the early 90s, while Inno-Hit were the first sponsor to be splashed across those famous black and blue stripes.
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