Manchester United have been linked with a move for Inter Milan’s Wesley Sneijder as Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs get a year older but signing the Dutchman could be one of Sir Alex Ferguson’s biggest mistakes.
Like it or loathe it United fans, sooner or later Scholes and Giggs are going to retire which leaves a gaping great hole in the middle of the Manchester United team. The urge as far as the boss is concerned will be to fill that hole with a high profile replacement.
However, Wesley Sneijder should not be one of them for many reasons. The Inter Milan man seems to carry trouble around with him wherever he goes which could be a reason he’s not already a United player.
The problem he seems to create for himself, and for his club, is that he demands to be the centre of attention at all stages. He hasn’t figured in Inter’s plans this season so he starts talking to the press about how unhappy he is to not be in the side regardless of the fact he could see out the remainder of his contract at Inter and be even wealthier than he already is.
He’s now 28-years-old and arguably past his best. If United sign a high profile midfielder, they will want someone who is going to come in with maybe a decade left in his legs and someone who is going to help players like Tom Cleverley and Shinji Kagawa develop, not a player who is going to start throwing his toys out of the pram when he doesn’t get picked.
It’s also important to point out that Sneijder is one of the best paid players at Inter Milan and bringing him into United could force the club to change their wage structure in relation to other players who may think they deserve to be on higher wages once they realise how much Sneijder is being paid.
The whole situation stinks of what happened when Carlos Tevez joined United before moving onto Manchester City, Ferguson saw something he didn’t like in Tevez which is the reason he never offered him a contract.
It could well be all roses and sunshine to begin with if Sneijder signed for United but they would be risking a lot if he causes similar problems at United because Fergie has always booted disruptive players out of the club regardless of their contract and regardless of their stature.
Then there is the question of whether they really need him when there is also talk of the club being linked with Mesut Ozil of Real Madrid, Kevin Strootman of PSV and Christian Eriksen of Ajax, all younger and cheaper alternatives to someone who has a history of being disruptive and being moved on.
We all know Sir Alex is getting on a bit but let’s hope he hasn’t lost his marbles just yet.
image: © Patrick de Laive
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