Netherlands midfielder Wesley Sneijder, said to be a target for Manchester United and Malaga, has admitted that he is prepared to leave current club Inter Milan should they accept a bid for him.
"Of course, if the club decides to sell, I'll go where they tell me to go, but I would be sad to leave," Sneijder is quoted as saying in an interview with the Italian edition of Vanity Fair magazine.
"My wife and I are happy in Milan, and I would miss Inter, but that's football. When Real Madrid sold me to Inter, at the time I wanted to stay in Spain."
Inter last week agreed a deal to sign young Argentine midfielder Ricky Alvarez from Velez Sarsfield, seen as a potential replacement for Sneijder.
However, the club's new coach Gian Piero Gasperini, speaking at their pre-season training camp in Pinzolo in the Italian Alps, has said he is confident that the playmaker will stay put.
"Sneijder is a great player, a top player. His approach has been more than positive. He is here and he wants to remain with us."
Manchester United assistant manager Rene Meulensteen, himself a Dutchman, said last week that he "could not think of a more ideal player for our team", and former United defender Gary Neville echoed those comments.
"He is a great player who has played at some great football clubs like Real Madrid and Inter and it won't faze him coming here", he said.
"He would be a great signing, but I'm sure that there are a number of clubs that are looking at him. I hope that Manchester United get him, but I don't know whether that will be the case."
In addition, press reports last week suggested that Malaga, owned by Qatari sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al-Thani, were prepared to offer up to 40 million euros ($56 million) for the player.
Malaga have already flexed their spending muscle this summer, making eight new signings including Spanish international winger Joaquin from Valencia, France midfielder Jeremy Toulalan from Lyon and Sneijder's compatriot and one-time Real Madrid teammate, Ruud Van Nistelrooy.
Source: AFP
