This year’s Jose Mourinho – why Inter must do everything they can to stop Wesley Sneijder joining Manchester United or Chelsea

COMMENT
By Kris Voakes

Love is in the air in Italian football right now. As Gianluigi Buffon gets ready to follow Federico Balzaretti in walking down the aisle this week, Alexandre Pato has been snapped on holiday with his boss-cum-better half Barbara Berlusconi, and Wesley Sneijder is currently living it up in California with his wife Yolanthe. But the Dutchman is preparing to face slightly more important questions than what flavour of ice cream to buy in the coming weeks, as his Inter future hangs in the balance.

In the past seven days, Sneijder has told the press that he has no reason to leave the Nerazzurri, but then followed up by saying: “I love Inter with all my heart, but God only knows what my future holds”. It’s not exactly the “I’m staying” statement that the club’s fans would have been looking for, and resembles the platitudes offered by Jose Mourinho last summer before he left Pinetina for Real Madrid. And just as the ‘Special One’ proved to be a huge loss to the club ahead of their far from flattering 2010-11 campaign, the departure of Sneijder at this juncture could be a massive blow.

After a year in which he led Inter to an unprecedented treble and scored five goals as the Netherlands came within a whisker of winning the World Cup, he was scandalously overlooked for the podium positions at the Fifa Ballon d’Or awards. There was talk in Milan at the time that had Sneijder played for a Manchester United or a Barcelona he’d have been a cert for first place. And following a season blighted by lethargy on the back of his 2010 exertions, the Red Devils and Chelsea are leading the race to take him away from San Siro.

The loss of the playmaker would be perhaps the biggest blow that Inter could suffer this summer. Last year it was all about Mourinho, and everyone automatically knew that the club would not be the same without him. This time around it’s arguable that Samuel Eto’o is the man the Nerazzurri really need to avoid losing. But in Sneijder they have a matchwinner of the type they have not possessed in a long time. Yes, Eto’o’s goals carried them a long way last season, but in their treble year it was the performances of Sneijder which made them an all-conquering outfit on the continent as well as in Italy. It was he who dragged them to an extra level, and if they are to become feared again abroad, then the No. 10 has to stay.

Should they have the former Ajax star refreshed and back in the line-up this coming campaign then he has the ability to make them champions of Italy once more and again push them far in Europe. But without him there would be a massive hole, with the likes of Dejan Stankovic and Houssine Kharja the primary candidates to step in. A new signing would be needed, but there are not many like Sneijder out there at the moment, hence the pursuit for his services from England.

From the player’s point of view, a move to Manchester United might be the perfect next step. They are a team dominating at home – as were the Nerazzurri when he signed in 2009 – but also a regular presence at the business end in the Champions League. That’s the kind of set-up Sneijder needs to be a part of. So it’s now up to Massimo Moratti and Leonardo to persuade him that he can get exactly that at San Siro, and they need to show that they can match his ambition. If not, and he becomes a lost love in the same mould as Mourinho, it could be a stake to the heart of Inter’s title hopes.

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