Tuesday, 15th January, 2013
Galatasaray have admitted that they are now looking for alternatives to Inter schemer Wesley Sneijder, due to the amount of time it is taking the Dutchman to give them a decision over joining, and have raised the prospect he is holding out for a club from England to make a bid.
The Turkish champions have had an offer for the 28-year-old accepted by Inter, who want to shed Sneijder’s €6M per year salary from the books after he refused to take a pay cut.
Sneijder has claimed there is no rush to make his mind up over a move, with the winter window not closing until 31st January.
But Galatasaray are not happy to sit around and suspect that the playmaker is waiting for an offer from the English Premier League, where both Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur have been linked with making a bid.
relatedNewsStory
"We cannot force him", Galatasaray director Semih Haznedaroglu told F5haber.com.
"Maybe he prefers to play in the Premier League", he mused.
"He should give us an answer as soon as possible, because we cannot do any more. Maybe he’ll give us an answer today."
And Haznedaroglu stressed other options are being explored by Galatasaray, given their need for a creative midfielder this month.
"We are not happy to wait and we’re looking for alternatives.
"It was the same with Kaka. We did what we could, but without success.
"We’ve agreed with Inter and made the player an offer. We just need a decision from him, yes or no."
It remains to be seen what exactly Sneijder decides to do, but the Dutchman does have a lucrative proposal on the table to move to Istanbul.
Opinion in the player’s native Holland is split, with some seeing a move to Turkey as a backwards step for the midfielder, while others rate Galatasaray as a big club and well worth playing for.
Like betting on football? You’ll want to check out Inside Bet.
