The enigma that is Wesley Sneijder

by @CheGiaevara

Manchester United fans are used to long-dragging transfer sagas during summertime. The debacle surrounding Carlos Tévez' exit at Boleyn Ground to the war between United and Tottenham Hotspurs for the services of one Dimitar Berbatov. Both in recent time, both dragging on a whole summer. Both fail, however, to deliver the same amount of expectaction, "will he, won't he"-stories and pure excitement as the story that has been ongoing for the past two summers.

 

For most Manchester United fans, the most frusturating transfer story in decades is the one surrounding Wesley Sneijder. For two summers has this never-ending saga gone on about the Dutchman's future. United fans' demand for superstar signings the past summers has been evident, especially after the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo. The man who's been linked as the answer to their prayers has been the inspiring Dutchman.

After a 2009/2010-season that included triumph in the Serie A, Coppa Italia and the Champions League, Sneijder quickly revitalized a career that seemed bleak after a disappointing spell at Real Madrid. If you take into account that Sneijder also lead his home country to a World Cup final, and was co-topscorer, Sneijder quickly became a hot property. A United side that saw themselves humiliated at the hands of Barcelona in the Champions League final in 2009 and looked unspiring without Wayne Rooney the season after, it was quite clear that a person of Sneijder's stature was needed. During that summer, reports flew in left and right that United had made contact with Inter regarding Sneijder's availabillity. The answer was believed to a pricetag around the £40m-mark. This for a player who was humiliated in Spain the year before and went on a bargain deal of £15m the year before. One must ask the question; where were we when Real Madrid wanted to offload him for such a ridiculous price? Where were we when they decided to splash out £80m for Cristiano Ronaldo? Why wasn't £15m of that used on getting Sneijder when he was desperatly seeking a move out of Madrid? One can only wonder.

"Should I stay, or should I go?"

After a season of mixed success, injury-plagued and not finding his groove in new systems brought in by coaches such as Rafael Benítez and Leonardo, United-fans were this time lead to believe that Sneijder himself wanted out at Inter. Reports by several media outlets had top stories such as "SNEIJDER READY FOR OLD TRAFFORD SWITCH" and "INTER READY TO POUNCE ON UNITED'S INTEREST IN SNEIJDER". The summer was officially underway. United were early with their business, signing goalkeeping talent David de Gea from Atlético Madrid, the robust and hard-tackling Phil Jones from Blackburn and the wing wizard Ashley Young from Aston Villa lead people to believe that the holy grail was an inspirational central midfielder. The holy grail had to be Wesley Sneijder! Sneijder himself didn't help the matter by going on record saying "We will see" when asked about if he was going to Man United during the summer. Furthermore was statement saying "I will grab the microphone myself and tell you if I'm staying at Inter". To my knowledge, there has yet to be any microphone-grabbing on the part of Mr. Sneijder.

Then came the reports of United making official contact with Inter. Inter's president, Massimo Moratti, claimed time and time again that there had been contact between the two clubs, but that no deal had been struck. There was new hope. Sir Alex Ferguson tried his damndest to keep a lock over the situation, but a somewhat foolish comment from David Gill had a clear message saying "we want a world class player by the transfer window". Why foolish? Foolish because it puts the ball in Inter's court. It was widely known that United wanted Sneijder and with such a comment it allows Inter to say "well, the cat's out of the bag. If you want him, you pay us what we want." That way, negotiations on a deal was, and still is, to Inter's advantage. If that wasn't enough, Sneijder himself claimed that "Inter need the money and they have decided that my price could be the answer." THEIR price. Not ours. THEIR'S. Then came the little upswing for Manchester United fans in a moment of darkness in this transfer mess.

Massimo Moratti - the man with all the answers?

After a pre-season match, Sneijder was interviewd by SkySports, asked about if he feels humbled by the interest of Manchester United. A blushing Sneijder looked nervously around him, smiled childishly and said "I'm not.." before running off camera. If you ask me, his words didn't sound like the words of a man adamant that the interest shown by England's best football hadn't turned his head a few times. A even clearer sign, for some, was Sneijder's refusal to accept the loser's medal in the Italian Super Cup when Inter lost to AC Milan. A final in which he scored in. If that wasn't enough, Sneijder went on camera with a Dutch TV station and claimed that there had been an "unofficial" approach from United and if he got the chance, he'd back his bags and leave for the Theatre of Dreams. For the first time it was out in the open for all to see; Wesley Sneijder wants to play for Manchester United.

But did he really want to play for Manchester United? The status today is a complicated one. Some sources claim Inter are holding out for more money, some claim that Sneijder's wage demans are too high. It's become common knowledge that Sneijder earns around the £250k-a-week-mark, and it's quite clear United are not willing to give him that. Wesley Sneijder might be one of the most talented players in the world, he might be the answer to all our prayers, but no one, and I wanna emphasize that, is bigger than the club itself. I, for one, will not be lead to believe that Sir Alex Ferguson, the Glazer family or anyone within Manchester United will buckle under for Sneijder and his wishes. I do, however, believe that United are willing to pay the fee asked by Inter, which is believed to be around £30-35m this time around. Sir Alex Ferguson himself claimed that "when Scholes, Giggs and Neville retires, we will need to strengthen out squad with routine and top tier talent." Scholes has retired, Sneijder fits his description and the money is available. Even though United may have the money to pay the transfer fee, the wage demands are asinine. After offering a new multimillion contract to Wayne Rooney, I highly doubt that United are willing to stretch their wage structure even more.

 Could it become a reality?

But then you have those saying that Sneijder is willing to lower his demands so he can complete his move to United. That may well be the case, but it's important to remember that Inter have already offloaded one big-money player in Samuel Eto'o. His transfer to Anzhi Makhachkala have relieved Inter of paying his wages, believed to be around the same amount as Sneijder's, and has freed up money to pay Sneijder's wages. The point I'm trying to make here is that Inter are in no need to sell Sneijder anymore. They've sold Eto'o and by selling them both, they could be selling themselves out of the title picture in Italy. This all culminates in Inter sitting with the best hand in this never-ending hand of poker, and all parties know it. Inter can then throw their weight around as they please, and both Sneijder and United will have to play along for the time being. However, Inter have indicated that they are willing to listen to United's offer. This is, after all, the last summer they can earn top dollar for Sneijder. Sneijder is 27 years old and his resale value is steadily going down every transfer window, something Inter are very aware of. If they sell him now they get the quick buck, but if they keep him, he'll probably stick around until his mid-30's before leaving on a cheap to go back to Holland to finish his career. So perhaps Inter are not sitting with the best hand after all?

As we enter the final week of transfers for this summer, there's still hope for United in getting Sneijder, for Inter to earn more money and for Sneijder to experience another challenge in his flourishing career of football. One thing is for certain; United, Inter and Sneijder are all sitting around the cardtable waiting for one of the others to fold their deck. Will United fold, pay Inter what they want and give in to Sneijder's wages? Will Inter fold, lower their price and let Sneijder leave cheaper so they don't lose out on a worthy slump of money? Will Sneijder fold, lower his wages and let United and Inter take care of the rest? These are all questions that needs to be answered, and will be answered, during the week. This is all a game of who has the strongest will, the most pride and the biggest guts in tight squeezes around the cardtable. Will this saga run down the clock and go to the wire? Well, the two transfer sagas I mentioned in the beginning did go down a tough path, the later one even went to midnight on August 31st. The saga of Wesley Sneijder is going into it's final act and the questions does remain; will the Flying Dutchman spread his wings and land within the Theatre of Dreams, or has he found his permanent domain in Milano and at Giuseppe Meazza? I, for one, have no idea.