MANCHESTER — Manchester United have given up on their bid to sign Wesley Sneijder from Inter Milan.
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had been hoping to make the Dutch international his final signing of the summer.
But senior Old Trafford sources told Sportsmail that United have now grown tired of a saga that has dragged on since the end of last season and have decided to pull the plug on the deal.
With 27-year-old Sneijder sitting right at the wrong end of United’s age limit for new signings, Ferguson and chief executive David Gill have decided to walk away from a player who was demanding in excess of £200 000-a-week in wages.
United’s decision to back off explains the fact that Sneijder’s representatives have this week been hawking him around United’s Barclays Premier League football rivals Chelsea and Manchester City. Neither club have expressed an interest, with City sources describing the overall cost of the deal as “mind blowing”.
With Sneijder desperate to leave Inter, it now seems very possible that the World Cup finalist will find himself stuck at the San Siro when the transfer window closes at the end of the month. The only way that United’s interest will be rekindled is if Sneijder dramatically drops his financial demands later in the window.
However, United do not expect this to happen and Old Trafford sources last night stressed that the club will do “absolutely nothing” to resurrect what would have been the big Premier League transfer of the summer.
It is clear that Inter and Sneijder would have to make the first move.
