One week we here one thing, the other week it’s completely different. It looked like Wesley Sneijder was going to North London, but according to Italian media, the Dutch midfielder will be leaving Inter for Northwest England and joining Liverpool Football Club in the upcoming January transfer window.
One thing is clear – there is no future for Sneijder at Inter. They don’t want to pay him his salary anymore (€6 million a season), his wife doesn’t want to stay in Italy and Sneijder himself has been rotting away on the bench. He has played only five times this season, the last of them back in September 26. A player that in 2010 many believed deserved to win the Ballon d’Or is now useless? Probably not, and it has to do with his relationship with the club and his own motivation to succeed with Inter, that took a nosedive after Jose Mourinho left. It seems most relics form their Champions League winning campaign are gone, and Sneijder is one of the last men left.
Spurs looked like the team that will get the Dutch midfielder for €12 million last week, but reports from around Sneijder suggested he hasn’t even considered Spurs as an option to go to. Liverpool are an inferior team to Tottenham at the moment, but a bigger club and a bigger name. As we mentioned above, the Italian media suggest that a €10 million offer from the Reds is going to be enough for Inter to accept and release the Dutch midfielder who simply wants to get away.
Sneijder, 28, might not be exactly the answer Brendan Rodgers is looking for. Most would agree that a striker, and not another midfielder, is what Liverpool need. Sure, the unit of Steven Gerrard, Joe Allen, Lucas, Nuri Sahin and Jonjo Shelvey might need some upgrading, but goalscoring and just having an option of partnering someone next to Suarez has been a greater need.
Sneijder joined Inter in 2009 from Real Madrid, winning the Serie A and the Champions League that season. He has played in 74 Serie A matches, scoring 13 goals. He also has 90 caps for the Dutch national team, scoring 24 goals in the process.