Ruud Gullit, Van Basten and Roberto Baggio, these are household names for diehard soccer fans. They were also my childhood heroes, through whom I came to acknowledge Italian soccer powerhouses AC Milan and Inter Milan.

At a time when entertainment of any kind was scarce and live sports broadcasts not available, videoed soccer matches of these Italian top clubs gave me quite some enjoyment and a good excuse to avoid household chores.

Now the two elite clubs in Milan are subjects to possible acquisition by Chinese conglomerates, such as e-commerce giant Sunning Group. That really stuns me.