Fabio Cannavaro believes that foreign investment in Italian football clubs is important for the progress of the sport in his country.

The 40-year-old former defender made his opinion known in the wake of Indonesian billionaire Erick Thohir officially taking over Inter Milan from Massimo Moratti last week.

"I'm happy about it because we don't have investors in Italy," he told AFP. "We need new forces because our football needs to grow from the economic point of view.

"We need to improve the quality of stadiums and infrastructure. I think these new investors will bring a lot of new things."

The only other foreign-owned Serie A club are Roma, who were bought by Americans Thomas DiBenedetto and James Pallotta two years ago.