Fergie denies Sneijder bid

It was reported on Wednesday that United had sent chief executive David Gill to Milan in an effort to secure the signing of the Netherlands international, who is valued at £35 million.

However, speaking on United's pre-season tour of the United States, Ferguson denied that Sneijder is a target for the Premier League champions.

“I keep reading about this,” Ferguson told ESPN. “There’s absolutely nothing at all to that.

"First of all, I don’t think Inter Milan are prepared to sell him anyway, but you get conjecture and you get speculation every week in newspapers unfortunately. We have to answer these for some reason.

"Why? I don’t know, but we have to find a way a reason without insulting a particular club or embarrassing any particular player. We just let it happen. Because there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Sneijder has enjoyed two impressive seasons at Inter and has been repeatedly named as a likely target for a United side looking to replace the retired Paul Scholes.

However, Inter director Marco Branca said earlier in the week that the 27-year-old Dutchman was "not for sale".