Sneijder to Inter?

By: Corey | August 2nd, 2009

There have been reports on both AS and Marca’s websites that Wesley Sneijder is to be sent on loan for 4 million euros to Inter Milan for the upcoming season, with a purchase clause set at 18 million euros at the end of the loan. It is believed that Florentino Perez and Massimo Moratti have met over the purposed deal, which would see Real recoup the money they paid for Sneijder two years if Inter executes the purchase option after the loan is completed. It is still unclear whether this deal would be accepted by Sneijder, although it is believed it will be as he is seen as a peripheral of Manuel Pellegrini’s squad after a very poor past season and indifferent showings in preseason so far. The deal is also not even confirmed to be more then paper talk, the imaginary connections people make between players, clubs and agents that seems to make sense even though there is no source for such speculation.

I have mixed emotions about this deal, mainly because Sneijder gave us two very different seasons. His first year was great, with lots of goals and a busy, purposeful play that often saw him running the offense and keeping Raul and Ruud happy with chances. But by the end of that season, I or we as fans, started to see the cracks in his game. His over reliance on long, vertical passing, his excessive long distance shooting, and his lack of defensive strength found him wanting on more then a few occasions. This past season he sustained an unfortunate injury in preseason, and when he returned he was not the same. By mid-season, we saw his strong vertical play as something of a hindrance to the overall buildup play of the team, much like when Gago will hold on to a ball for to long. Sneijder’s forward runs were often pointless, his passing was a series of telegraphs to teammates or the oppositions feet, and his shooting was rarely threatening. His play was not good enough to be the play maker of the team, and after the acquisitions of Granero and Kaka, it seems he does not have a place in the team any longer.

Then again, strength in depth is never a bad thing to have for any team, and one would assume he could return to his best this season as he has stayed injury free and would have a more defined role under Pellegrini. But then again, its hard to think he will get to much playing time and its tough to keep a player happy when he barely plays, in much the same way Rafeal Van der Vaart is expected to leave this summer. So the question to readers is whether or not Sneijder should be sent on loan to Inter with the purchase option. I think that we should let him go out on loan only if we do not find a suitable buyer for Van der Vaart and we do not get Xabi Alonso. If neither of those conditions are met, you would be hard pressed to say he would not get a significant amount of time, even off the bench, even though he is technically the odd man out in the two players in each position equation (I count Guti as a CM along with Gago, Granero and Kaka, Diarra and Diarra, Ronaldo and Robben). The possibility of Drenthe or Marcelo being used in the midfield with the purchase of Arbeloa also limits his chances too, but I say we keep him as long as we can for depth and in the hope that he regains some sort of form. Vote in the weekly poll and let me know what you think of this possible move.

Should Sneijder Be Loaned To Inter?(opinion)

Also, I watched Real play Juventus finally, and I think Real was far better then Juventus even though we lost. Set piece defending needs to be worked on of course, as well as quicker defensive response to counter attacks and balls over the top, but I still liked what I saw from the lineup that was out there. The field was crap and that effected play, while Real’s players got kicked a tad to much for a friendly (eyes on the thug pretending to be a footballer, Salihamidzic) but the team is progressing nicely, especially with ball movement and off the ball positioning and pressuring. As Guti said ‘Juve had three chances and scored on two of them’. They may have had a few more then that, but not many.

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Sneijder to Inter?

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