Wednesday 27 July 2011

Wesley Bloody Sneijder

THE SITUATION

The situation, as I keep being reminded every day of my working and personal life, is that people want to know what is happening regarding Wesley Sneijder and a potential move from Inter Milan.

So, take a seat, pour yourself a drink, and have a read. And then either disregard everything that is written, or believe certain bits. It's your choice but what I am writing is, to the best of my knowledge/contacts/thoughts in my head etc etc etc absolutely true.

LAST SUMMER

Manchester United last summer spoke to Inter Milan representatives (guys who work for the big men in Italy) regarding Sneijder and whether they would sell. To United's surprise, the answer was not a flat out 'NO' but merely a 'show us what you got then'. It didn't really go much from there. There was one meeting face-to-face between both sides but as far as I am told/remember, United were told the asking price, without negotiation, was £35m. And then there were wages to factor. And the fact Scholes was still around.

United walked away.

LAST SEASON

Paul Scholes' decision to retire was a long time coming, but still a decision that surprised Manchester United somewhat. At the start of last season, there was talk between Scholes and Ferguson about how much he would play a part for the new campaign and then beyond. It was agreed Scholes would 'take a view' at the end of the season whether he'd stay on. Privately, Ferguson believed Scholes would stay.

DURING THE SEASON

Ferguson met Scholes many times after training and before matches (senior players like him, Giggs etc get more 'access' to longer chats with Ferguson) and gradually, Ferguson became concerned Scholes' time (in Scholes' eyes) was up.

AT THE END OF THE SEASON

Although Ferguson still hoped to keep Scholes on, his decision to quit surprised him somewhat. Ferguson, almost immediately, started planning for his replacement. This was not a snap decision - he's always had replacements in mind - but his decision now was 'who do I actively go for and make moves to buy'.

THIS SUMMER

Wesley Sneijder has been spoken about at Old Trafford. The task to replace Scholes means you need to identify targets and he has been identified. Again, as same as the picture was last summer, United have held low level talks with Inter about Sneijder, and once again the situation is the same - Inter are open  to selling him, as long as they get a lot of money in return. Do United have that money? I am sceptical. If they had the money to do it straight off, a bid would have been made officially by now, to give Sneijder the maximum time to settle at the club / make a money spinning appearance in America.

SO HOW DO UTD AFFORD HIM?

This is the only point of the transfer. Disregard whether they want him (they do), whether Inter will sell (they will), whether he wants to come (he's not fussed either way) whether other teams want him (not to my knowledge) and the like - the issue here is cold, hard cash.

Manchester United simply cannot afford to spend £35m on a player who will command £200,000+ a week wages (before tax). It is not financially viable for a club mired in debt with a player who is 27. Ferguson himself has suggested getting numerous players off the wage bill helped fund the three arrivals of De Gea, Young and Jones.

SO HOW DOES IT HAPPEN THEN?

Quite simply, someone has to back down. Either Inter accepts less money for Sneijder (unlikely, but if they want to sign Tevez there's a chance) or Sneijder accepts if he does want a new challenge, he will 'settle' for 'only' £170,000 (ish) before tax. Or, somehow, Manchester United manage to make money grow on trees and give Inter £40m and Sneijder £200,000 a week.

I doubt that a sponsor like Nike will be too pivotal in any negotiatons regarding money. Ignore them, as it's down to the two teams.

SO, WILL SNEIJDER SIGN FOR MAN UTD?

Nobody knows the answer to this question. So stop asking. And wait. Wait and see. Wait and see whether Inter accept a bid. Journalists don't know. Fans don't know. You don't know.

WHAT IS THE CURRENT STAGE OF NEGOTIATIONS?

There isn't any stage. There are no talks currently. There won't be any talks until United return from America. Then, at Carrington, United will decide what to do r.e Sneijder. As I need to say once more, unless there is some leverage given or asked between the parties involved, this transfer won't happen.

CRYPTIC CLUES

People ask me what my thoughts are on Sneijder saying 'If I stay, I stay'. I don't have any thoughts on this. It's a boring, bland, non comittal statement. It says nothing so we don't need to give it too much attention. And just because Sneijder is being given an opportunity to say 'I WANT TO STAY' and he hasn't, in NO way does that mean he is off.

BUT THEY ARE INTERESTED, RIGHT?

Of course they bloody well are. I find it interesting how some journalists (no names mentioned) once claimed that 'Man Utd have not, and will not, show an interest in Sneijder' and then suddenly backtrack to clarify their statement a few days later. But, just because someone is interested in someone, doesn't mean it will end happy for all parties. You're interested in the hot bird at school/college/work/the pub, right? Well, just because you fancy taking her out for a pint and then getting busy, it doesn't mean it's going to happen, does it?

BUT UNITED WILL SIGN SOMEONE RIGHT?

Yeah, I think so. I assume so.

A CM? (If I ever hear 'cm' again I will scream)

Probably, yes. It's the one area United need improving in.

IN CONCLUSION

Manchester United are interested in signing Wesley Sneijder from Inter Milan. Whether they sign him is another matter. Nobody knows. Personally, I think it's 50/50 as I believe Sneijder would fancy a challenge in England. But whether he fancies it enough to play for less money (he's a footballer, they all want the best money possible) and whether United find his acquisition economically viable is another matter.

Now go and have a drink and let us never mention Wesley Sneijder until September 1st, 2011.

7 comments:

  1. LOL good post. I don't think it's the fact we can't afford him though, we could, but it's not good business sense to pay that much money for someone who is 27, has probably 4-5 years left at the top, unproven in the Premiership with no scope to improve his skills because he's reached his peak. I'm hoping we still nab Nasri. Come on Patrice, work your magic!

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  2. IMO
    - get rid of berbashyt and gibson surely then we can afford 200k p.w
    - we need to buy a world class player that generates revenue, wes is def 1 of them!
    -lets be honest a replacement for Scholes isn't going to be cheap; lets get the best player we can while Fergie is at the helm so we can lift more champs league trophies.

    bottom line - we need a world class playmaker, with experience for 3/4yrs, alt Rooney must drop into midfield and we assess the striker situation

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  3. So you only know as much as the rest of us. But I agree with you, United cannot afford Sneijder that is the only thing that is clear.

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  4. I just dont see how you guys can blame lack of money. I think its team for people to admit that the glazers debt hasnt crippled the club as much as gloom and doom merchants would have you believe. If we couldnt afford 35m for a player who fills a huge hole in our midfield, then we couldnt afford to spend big money on two guys we arguably dont need(jones and Young). Dont get me wrong Im a massive fan of Young and I have wanted him at United for over 3 years now, but when Im honest we didnt really need him when we have Nani, Valencia, Park, Giggs and obertan. We also werent crying out for Jones, even though he is a young and talented player. I just dont see United spending close to 20m on a Youngster who is nowhere close to breaking into the starting XI if the money was skint.

    The money is there, Fergie just isnt in a hurry to spend it just to appease the Anti-glazer fans.

    My guess is that Fergie wants Sneijder but not as the current asking price. I think he is reasonably satisfied with his midfield(which can hang with any team not named Barcelona) and he is only going to buy a new midfielder if said player is head and shoulders above our current crop. and players like Henderson, Adams... might be good players but they arent worth bringing in n and possibly stunting the growth of a cleverly or a pogba...

    just my 2 cents

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  5. News just in: Apparently, Wesley Sneijder has wished a United fan happy birthday on Twitter. In Twittland, that means "he must be joining United"...pass the word! :0)

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  6. it's so unbelievable united is money spinning machine but these greedy j*ews glazers strangling the club and put us in a bad light (haggling other pennies 2nd richest club in the world)

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  7. @mj you are deluded and naive or biased, because it's a fact - we don't have funds or maybe put it that way glazers don't give us - they are making profit here if you forgot

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