Report: Inter executive suspects espionage after finding bug in office

Somebody's watching Inter.

Club CEO Michael Bolingbroke found a bug in one of the Nerazzurri's offices, according to Italian newspaper La Repubblica's Luca Pagni and Andrea Sorrentino. Bolingbroke reportedly made the announcement at a staff meeting last week and then showed the device he retrieved to dozens in attendance.

Bolingbroke recommended all Inter employees be discreet with confidential information inside the club's headquarters, according to La Repubblica.

The source of the bug is reportedly unclear, and staff members are shaken by the news.

But shareholder Massimo Moratti denied the possibility of any espionage. As far as he's concerned, there is no thriller developing here.

"A phony and ridiculous thing," Moratti said. "There weren't any bugs."

The possible espionage comes at a particularly delicate time for Inter. Recent reports in Italy have suggested that club president Erick Thohir is in talks to sell at least 20 percent of the 18-time Serie A champion to a Chinese consortium.

Inter is currently in fourth place, seven points behind Roma, and in all likelihood will miss out on the Champions League for a fourth straight season. Compounding that misery is the fact it suffered €140 million in losses over the past fiscal year.