It looks like he won’t be joining Manchester United after all.
For a couple of summers, Wesley Sneijder was reportedly on the verge of joining the Premier League team.
Sneijder was one of the best players in the world in 2010, helping Inter Milan to the treble and scoring five goals for the Netherlands as they reached the final of the 2010 World Cup.
Inter went into decline after Jose Mourinho left to manage Real Madrid, and it looked like Sneijder would be on his way out of Italy. From 2011 to January 2013, when he joined Galatasaray, Sneijder to United was probably the most common transfer rumour doing the rounds.
If Jose Mourinho had’ve succeeded Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013, maybe it would’ve happened. But Sneijder is 33, in the autumn of his career, and there’s now no chance he’ll end up at Old Trafford.
There wasn’t any chance before, to be fair, but it looks like Sneijder is on his way to the United States.
According to EPSN’s Mark Ogden, the Dutch midfielder is close to agreeing a two-year deal with new Major League Soccer franchise Los Angeles FC.
He's kind of a big deal https://t.co/HiVvBlHEQd
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) June 27, 2017
LAFC will enter MLS in 2018, when the new season begins next March, and Sneijder will become their first designated player.
In MLS, a designated player is outside of a franchise’s salary cap. Sneijder will reportedly earn $3.5m a year.
The Dutch midfielder has a year left on his contract with Galatasaray, and will, according to the report, leave the Turkish club in January. LAFC are part-owned by actor Will Ferrell, and have been linked with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who played alongside Sneijder for Ajax between 2002 and 2004.
