Rossoneri is “no longer a worthwhile investment” for Italian PM

Since their two countries made peace with one another, Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi and Italian Prime Minister/AC Milan owner/caricature sex pest Silvio Berlusconi have bee getting on like a house on fire.

Such is the strength of their relationship that Italian newspaper la Repubblica are today reporting that Berlusconi wants to sell his beloved AC Milan to the man who recently made his people take part in a compulsary celebration of the 40th anniversary of his military coup d’état.

On Sunday, the day after the Rossoneri were pummeled by their fierce Milan rivals, Berlusconi flew to Tripoli to attend a ceremony marking the first anniversary of the 2008 cooperation treaty between the two nations. While there, la Repubblica say the Italian offered the Libyan leader the chance to buy his club, and also requested references from the Libyan Central Bank, Foreign Bank of Libya and Libyan Investment Authority. Incidentally, these institutions have also been linked with Juventus and Roma in the past.

Berlusconi no longer views the club as a “strategic asset”, and has actually implied that it has become a political liability: he admits that selling Kaka has had a large negative effect on his popularity in polls and elections.

The Italian daily paper believes the club will be worth somewhere in the region of €600-800m. That sounds like a lot for Gaddafi to come up with, but it represents just a small chunk of the $5bn Italy will hand over to Libya as compensation for its military occupancy.