Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi says he has sold the soccer club AC Milan to a Chinese consortium.

据意大利前总理西尔维奥·贝卢斯科尼日前透露，他已经将AC米兰出售给了一家中国财团。

He said they will be paying at least 400m euro (220m pound) over the next two years, which may value the club at up to 750m euro including debt. "Milan has now embarked¹ on this path towards China," he said without disclosing the identity of the buyers.

贝卢斯科尼表示，在接下来的两年里他们将最少获得4亿欧元（约合2.2亿英镑），这将使得这家俱乐部连带债务在内的价值达到7.5亿欧元。不过贝卢斯科尼并没有透露买家的身份，他说道：“AC米兰已经走在了通往中国的道路上。”

Berlusconi, 79, has served as prime minister four times but was convicted of tax fraud and bribery².

今年79岁的贝卢斯科尼曾4次当选为意大利总理，但也曾因逃税和收受贿赂而被判有罪。

His family holding company Fininvest reportedly entered into exclusive talks with the Chinese investor³ group in May. The consortium is looking to buy 80% of the club immediately before eventually taking over the remainder.

他的家族把持着菲宁威特公司，据报道，这家公司是在今年五月份的时候和中国投资团队进行了独家谈判。该财团希望能够立刻收购AC米兰俱乐部80%的股份，随后再接收剩下的部分。

AC Milan is one of Europe's most successful clubs but is seeking new capital to enable it to better compete against other well-funded rivals. It posted a loss of 93.5m euro ($104m) last year.

AC米兰是欧洲最成功的足球俱乐部之一，但是近年来却在寻求新资本，来使得自己能够更好地和其他财力雄厚的对手竞争。去年该俱乐部共计亏损了9350万欧元（约合1.04亿美元）。

Berlusconi came close to selling a majority stake in AC Milan to a Thai businessman last year but changed his mind.

去年，贝卢斯科尼差点就将AC米兰的大部分股份卖给了一个泰国商人，但是最后他改变了主意。

Many European teams are now owned or bankrolled by wealthy Asian or Middle Eastern investors⁴ or companies. Local rival Inter⁵ Milan was sold to Chinese electronics retailer⁶ Suning Commerce Group last month. And last month Chinese businessman Dr Tony Xia completed his 76m pound takeover of club Aston Villa⁷.

许多欧洲球队现在都是由富有的亚洲、中东投资家和公司所拥有，或者由他们提供资金。上个月，AC米兰的同城死敌国际米兰就被出售给了中国电子零售商苏宁云商集团。同样是在上个月，中国商人夏建统就完成了对阿斯顿维拉俱乐部的收购，这笔交易价值7600万英镑。