Even Nike seem confused
The uncertainty surrounding Wesley Sneijder’s future has been frustrating for most Manchester United fans. Is he coming or is he staying?
That is the question that we have been asking ourselves all summer long and will continue to until something happens or until he comes out and makes a statement.
What I can say is encouraging about this whole situation that we find ourselves in is that Wesley Sneijder has not yet come out and made a statement. His failure to rule out a move despite the endless number of opportunities that he has had to do so could still mean there is a possibility that he will join Manchester United this summer.
First and foremost, the quotes which I have found most telling in this whole transfer saga are the ones from Inter Milan’s chief executive Ernesta Paolillo.
“We have to sell, then after we have sold we will see what Inter will buy, the first move will be selling and not buying.”
“We are thinking of UEFA’s rules on Financial Fair Play. That’s why we will start selling, otherwise we will not buy anything. But of course we don’t want to say who we will sell because that would not be a good thing for us to do in the market.”
Inter Milan have already signed two players in this transfer window; central midfielder Ricky Alvarez for €12million and right back Jonathan for a fee thought to be around €5million. Inter Milan have also submitted a bid of €14million for Sao Paulo central midfielder Casemiro, a transaction which is expected to go through in the next few days.
In addition to this there is widespread reported interest in Valencia’s central midfielder Ever Banega from Inter Milan. Inter Milan currently have 8 recognised central midfielders on their books; Stankovic, Cambiasso, Motta, Zanetti, Sneijder, Muntari, Marigo and Ricky Alvarez. With so many central midfielders contracted to the club and real interest in 2 other central midfielders it is only natural to think that Inter Milan may be looking to offload a few. Could Wesley Sneijder be the one to leave? Ernesta Paolillo hinted that someone could be on their way out and as I see it, Wesley Sneijder is the only one who can command the kind of money Inter Milan may be looking to raise. A €40million transfer fee and a €10million saving for each of the next 3 years must look appealing for a team trying to rebuild an ageing squad?
The official stance of both clubs however is that Wesley Sneijder is not for sale and is not transferrable. On Wednesday Marco Branca’s stance was;
“There’s not been an official offer and there has never been the intention to listen to them. There are no updates. He (Wesley Sneijder) is not for sale.”
I guess that this quote is very much in line with Ernesto Paolillo’s comments of not saying who they will sell. To give away in public that they are willing to sell Wesley Sneijder would only drive the price they are looking for down. The following day Sir Alex Ferguson added;
“I have not been involved in this situation. There is no real interest for a lot of reasons. There is nothing I can tell you about it.”
Denial clearly gives Manchester United the upper hand in negotiations. It makes sense for Manchester United not to promise a player to the fans because if we had openly admitted that we wanted to sign Wesley Sneijder, it would create excitement amongst the fans of our football club and if a deal eventually fell through, it would leave a lot of us very disappointed.
Personally I think that the comments from both teams may be a front for something happening behind the scenes. The interest in Wesley Sneijder is thought to be real though what is happening behind the scenes seems to be unclear. There were rumours going round that at the end of one of Inter Milan’s friendlies, Wesley Sneijder did a lap of honour and told his teammates goodbye however Dejan Stankovic’s interview on Saturday probably rubbishes that rumour.
“I bet you a pizza and a beer that Wesley (Sneijder) does not go away. In a couple of days you’ll see that Wesley (Sneijder) will take the microphone and say 100% he will remain with us.” If so, this whole saga should be over soon.”
What is clear is that Wesley Sneijder’s future is unclear. Is he coming or is he staying? It seems that he cannot decide where his future lies. “Only god will decide” where his future lies.
Do you think Wesley Sneijder will join Manchester United? Would you like to see Wesley Sneijder in the red shirt of Manchester United? Feel free to comment below.
so what you are or are not saying is that Sneijder may or may not be coming to Old Trafford though yet may be not coming to OldTrafford.
Hahaha…
What is ”clear” is that Wesley Sneidjer’s future is ”unclear”…
I m really sick of this saga……I don’t care anymore……..(but i m hope he will sign for united next week,shhhhhhhh!)
Just from the widespread media coverage on this story and with so many media outlets seeming pretty confidant that this transfer will happen, it is very obvious that negotiations have likely taken place in some shape or form. I think Alex Ferguson hinted that in his most recent statement on the matter. My opinion is that maybe talks were happening but may have broke down possibly due to Wesley’s wages. This explains why Sir Alex was so negative with the speculation. Then again after reading this article it would make some sort of sense if this was mind games in a way for them to have over the inter directors. Maybe Wesley doesn’t know what’s going on himself and that is why he hasn’t made a statement, or perhaps this story isnt as big over in Italy and Milan so he doesn’t seem the need to. Whatever happens I hope that Mr Wesley Sneijder does come to the theatre of dreams as he is without a doubt the most perfect replacement for Paul Scholes and undoubtedly the 3rd best central midfield player in the world after Xavi and Iniesta whom would never be transferable. Our middle of the park looks the weakest out of the top 5’s so we need that key signing ASAP before the season starts or im very afraid that we wont be able to compete with the Chelsea’s and even the Spurs. Yes Giggs had a great last season in the centre but he cant do it consistently throughout the campaign as he isnt getting any younger and quite frankly I don’t think his 100% focused as he use to be giving the last couple of months. Carrick lacks consistency along with Anderson and that leaves Dazza, but he is more defensive plus he is struggling to recovery from last seasons virus he picked up. Barca demolished us in midfield, and without that key signing what will happen if we come up against them again in the 2011/2012 final, then what!? I would rather history not repeat itself for the 3rd time. It is time United stepped this game up and made a new, better history by buying a proven force in European football. We need quality to replace quality and there is probably only one player capable of filling that gap – Wesley Sneijder. United have been linked with Wes for the best part of the last decade, so please SAF, its time, get the man nearly every United fan wants to see wearing the shirt of the greatest team ever to bless English Football! Sneijder can make it even greater!
cudnt hav put it better myself….
Nice one Curtis. I agree with you whole heartedly.
To ease the wage problem, offload Carrick, Gibson & Kuzchek quick.
it will be great if he comes to united and i believe he will come.
I bet he is coming to Manchester. It is already decided.(Just a hunch..) I do not know the reason why they publicize it but I think there are some reasons on inter-milan’s part.
i do’nt think they should buy him hes 27 i think they should get ganso who would cost less and is younger (21)
But is not nearly as good as Sneijder. If he were to head to manchester, they will clinch the title. Period.
I hope he comes but its looking doubtful. I think the deal is becoming expensive and complicated. The £35 million fee and the wages may be too high for Man Utd. Perhaps if they both come down slightly, maybe to to £31 million and wages of around £180,000 a week, a deal might happen.
We should prepare for this deal to fall through. Hopefully Ferguson has another player in mind, possibly Marvin Martin. In all fairness a player like Marvin Martin is more in line with the kind of player Man Utd normally prefer to sign. He is young and up coming, highly rated and will cost around £15 million probably.
Most reports indicate that it’s Sneijder’s wage demands that is holding up the move.
Lets make it clear, the reason he wants 220-250k per week is because of the very high tax rate in England. Other clubs pay the tax for the player as part of an incentive to join them. After tax Sneijder will be on the same or a bit more than what he’s currently on.
I don’t think Sneijder is being greedy. This is probably his last major contract and want to insure he is being paid what he’s worth.
Everyone is saying how good he is etc, then pay him. The Barca MF is in the top 20 of football highest earners. Talent doesn’t come cheap, even Chicarito has been given a new contract for his achievements.
I read that Nike could step in and top up his wage demand as they want to see him go to MU.
The MU board and management say they have a wage structure in place and cannot break it. Well the Glazers have paid themselves £millions in personal loans on the back of MU, they don’t seem to have any wage structure.
If this deal fails to happen blame MU AND SAF, yes he is all powerful, but he can make this deal happen by demanding it.
It’s about time MU caught up with the real world and pay a player their worth instead of ripping them off. Example Cantona’s image rights, Rooney had to blackmail MU in order to secure a better deal. Rooney could have gone to city or Real if he only was after more money.
These draconian rules by MU only set to alienate players and fans only see a greedy footballer. There is two side to this and if the deal doesn’t happen then both sides should take the blame.
Well while this is a sensible article, I have to disagree with your belief that Inter have such a large number of midfielders. Stankovic and Sneijder compete for the front of a midfield trio, with Cambiasso, Motta, Muntari and Zanetti filling in between the holding and linking roles. Mariga is a prospect who plays defensive mid and Ricky Alvarez is very much an attacking mid who can play the flanks, so he looks more like a replacement for Stankovic and they’re both young enough to put on the bench.
My point there is that Inter can keep those midfielders and easily rotate them while keeping Sneijder. Think of Man U; Carrick, Fletcher, Giggs, Scholes, Anderson, Hargreaves and sometimes Park or O’Shea. In an ideal world over the last few years United had 8 midfielders available, the same as Inter have now. Obviously the shift to 4-4-2 and the departure of Hargreaves and Scholes means the number is less but for a midfield trio I think 8 midfielders is a good number to cover injuries.
I do feel Banega is a first team player no matter where he goes and if he was to be integrated into an Inter side with the players that are there I dont think it would be possible to do so without changing formation or leaving people out. Likelihood? He’s being lined up to replace Sneijder, and wont arrive unless Wes departs.
That’s my take on it anyway, good article but I just think the transfer is totally dependent on United’s pursuit rather than any need of Inter Milan’s to sell him. He’s the best assisting player in the Champions League over the last few seasons and it could be argued he won the Champions League and got his country to the World Cup final with his passing. Why would any team want to get rid of such a valuable player? Hope Sir Alex takes the plunge and pushes for him, he would be the highest profile signing United have made since Wayne Rooney, going back 7 years now
United never had 8 outright central midfielders.
Even now we don’t have 6 central midfielders. With the retirement of Scholes and departures of Hargreaves & O’Shea, with the fact that Giggs & Park are not central midfielders, who are creative box-to-box central midfielders, we are left with Carrick, Fletcher and Anderson.
This means we only have 3 central midfielders, which is way too low for a team like United who would be playing Champs Lge games & trying to fight for every local cups, especially for no.20.
Well you couldn’t say Ricky Alvarez, Stankovic or Sneijder are central mids either, they all play advanced roles. And the 5 defensive midfielders at Inter all play slightly out of position when they aren’t sitting in front of the defence. Giggs does play centre and Park Ji Sung can play anywhere, he’s just as good at right back as in centre mid.
For the purposes of argument we’re talking about United when they were 4-3-3, and just like Inter now, United had 3 slots to fill in a midfield trio. When Hargreaves and Anderson were bought it was with the intention of playing alongside the others I mentioned and at the time you could have counted it as 8 players who could play in that midfield. Different now because of the 4-4-2 preference but for 4-3-3 that number of midfielders is quite appropriate.
Now that Phil Jones has signed we’re just Sneijder, Hamsik or Rodwell short of being able to field a potential 7 midfielders, with Pogba in development to make it 8. Great because Jones plays across the back and with Giggs, Park and any of those 3 signings there’s huge versatility. That counts for more than rigid positional quantity. And if you look at Barca, they have Xavi and Keita, with Busquets and Mascherano holding, and Iniesta filling in, although he’s also a great attacking/ left mid. If they keep him they also have Thiago Alcantara, but that’s only 6 midfielders and they do alright
You forgot Berba my man.
I’ve got a bad feeling that wes or inter have upset fervid to the point where he’s gonna make do with what we’ve got which is such a shame because I think he would be relishing the exciting English game compared to Italian.hope I’m wrong!!!