Are we seeing more smoke and mirrors from Gill & Co.?
It created a buzz amongst United fans myself included as it went some way to proving that we were not as impoverished as various media sources would have us believe. I personally took pleasure in telling friends who support other clubs, “I told you so!” as they had jeered and jibed that we were broke.
The next day the euphoria came to an end and reality kicked in as Wesley Sneijder affirmed his intention to stay in Italy with Inter Milan. As far as I know the £29m bid wasn’t accepted or rejected as Sneijder himself killed the whole transfer with his own mouth but then I got to thinking, were we as United fans being had?
Sneijder has had a spectacular season, doing the treble with Inter as well as potentially winning the World Cup with Holland. His 5 goals in the competition put him the running for the golden boot, he is also a contender for the golden ball as well as being a front runner for the Ballon D’or so was £29m a realistic offer? There is always the danger of over paying especially when it comes to United and transfers but following the year he has had, the World Cup he is having and the inflated transfer market I don’t think Inter would have even considered it.
But David Gill isn’t a fool, he knows this.
Yet in making the bid United killed two birds with one stone, appeasing us who felt that there was no money at the club as well as going for a big name. I noticed for the brief time we have been linked with a move for Sneijder there has been very little talk on the Glazers or the club’s financial position.
I’m not an expert or a club insider and perhaps if Sneijder didn’t come out and say he wanted to stay at Inter we would have upped our bid or we may even still push for him now but the bid had it’s desired effect. Following Sneijder’s snub the papers have linked us with a move for Mesut Ozil. This would really please the fans and could possibly be cheaper than a deal for Sneijder so it’ll be interesting to see if we pursue this.
Owen Hargreaves’ latest injury set back may force us to spend as well so if we do actually have this money rather than just making gestures, this is when we will see.