Most Popular Sports
All Sports
Show All

Is Wesley Sneijder set to join Manchester United or Juventus?

Eurosport
ByEurosport

Updated 09/01/2015 at 16:36 GMT

In-depth: Rumours abound that Wesley Sneijder is unhappy in Turkey. We asked our expert in Istanbul to seperate fact from fiction.

Wesley Sneijder (Getty Images)

Image credit: Getty Images

Sports writer Meriç Gürsoy from Eurosport in Istanbul gives his views on Wesley Sneijder's immediate future with Juventus and Manchester United touted as possible destinations for the Dutch international during the January transfer window.
It is likely that Wesley Sneijder will finish this season at Galatasaray, writes Meriç Gürsoy. He is earning good money here, but it is wrong to say that Sneijder's situation is solely about the money. It's not just about the money. Let's look at his salary since he arrived from Internazionale:
€7.5 million Euros for Inter.
€2 million for Sneijder's first wage. (Second half of 2012-2013).
€3.2 million for Sneijder's next years (2013-2014, 2014-2015, 2015-2016).
€500 thousand Euros for maximum bonuses per year.
€3.9 million for Sneijder's signing-on-fee.
Source: This page is from Galatasaray's official website and states Sneijder's salary (http://www.galatasaray.org/futbol/futbol_as/haber/15820.php)
I give this information because there too many wrong amounts circulating. To sum it up, Sneijder is earning 3.7 million Euros (with bonuses) for current season. It is not an enormously big salary, and I think he would not earn very different from that at Juventus or Manchester United if he moved to either club in January.
There are many other reasons for him to stay in Isanbul. His wife, Yolanthe Cabau, has become a famous face in Turkey and she is also performs in a movie in Turkey (which is about to be released http://instagram.com/p/xExzSCOvyX/?modal=true).
They really love Turkey, especially Istanbul.
Another reason for him to stay is that he is held in high esteem in Turkey. He is the best player in the Turkish Super League and Galatasaray fans loves him very much. They see Sneijder as a hero - the natural successor to Gheorge Hagi - Galatasaray's former player.
Finally, it should be noted that Galatasaray's current administration will change in May. Maybe few managers could stay but the president will change. So it's too hard to say something for sure. The new new president could say "I want to sell Sneijder for financial reasons" when summer arrives.
I think there will be some sort of movement in summer. It could be Sneijder's contract extension or him signing for a new team, but I don't expect him to depart in January.
Maybe Juventus or Manchester United could try again in the summer when Galatasaray have a new president.
VIEW FROM THE PLAYER'S AGENT
Wesley Sneijder's agent has confirmed that Galatasaray will not sell their star player to Juventus or anybody else, and that the 30-year-old is happy in Turkey.
The Dutchman has been heavily linked with a move to the Bianconeri, and reports indicated that Dutch playmaker, but on Friday Sneijder's agent Guido Albers held a meeting with Gala vice-president Abdurrahim Albayrak - and afterwards told Eurosport that the club were determined not to let him go.
"Galatasaray will definitey not sell Sneijder," Allbers said. Sneijder is happy at Galatasaray. We told Juventus that Galatasaray won't sell Sneijder.
"There are not any other offers for Sneijder except Juventus."
The news reiterates comments from Albayrak himself on Wednesday insisting that Wesley Sneijder was happy in Turkey and didn't want to join Juventus.
The Turkish giant’s vice-president says no move will take place, though he confirmed that a €20m release clause is in place.
“Sneijder is our player, and he’s happy here,” Albayrak told ntvspor.net.
“He will be with us for the second half of the season. The player is not for sale, if anyone wants him they’ll have to pay his release clause of €20m."
OUR VIEW
Galatasaray are playing hardball - and why not? Sneijder is certainly worth a lot of money to them, given how tight the Turkish Super Lig is this season. Gala sit third, just a point behind Fenerbahce and Besiktas as the season approaches the half-way point. Champions League football hangs in the balance for the Istanbul giants - and a player of the calibre of Sneijder could easily make the difference. And it is very doubtful that someone would lay out €20m for a 30-year-old who is clearly two or three years past his peak.
Read the original article on Football Italia - The ultimate website for English-speaking fans of Italian football
Join 3M+ users on app
Stay up to date with the latest news, results and live sports
Download
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement