Sneijder, the Inter outcast
Wesley Sneijder, one of the best creative midfielders in the world, has been reduced to a virtual spectator at Inter. The player who inspired the Netherlands to the final of the 2010 World Cup can do everything he wishes to in Milan except kick a ball around in the colours of Nerazzurri. The Italian club have made Sneijder an outcast after he refused to cut down on his six million euros annual salary. It is indeed a pity that the Dutch star has been forced to watch Inter’s matches from the stands when he is at the peak of his powers.
Inter’s creative engine has gone silent since September last year. It is like the brush has been snatched away from a masterful painter when he is in the mood. Inter have pulled the plug on a player whose ability to orchestrate attacks from the middle of the park is second to none. Sneijder is so good that he can walk into the all-conquering Barcelona side straightaway. He is in the league of Xavi, with younger legs. With a player of Sneijder’s class in their ranks, Argentina might have won the World Cup in South Africa three years ago.
Inter’s decision to force Sneijder out on the grounds of financial prudence midway through his contract has brought to the fore the increasingly tenuous relationship between club and players. Gone are the days of unconditional loyalty from either side. Cut your pay or rot on the sidelines is the new idiom in modern football. In a continent reeling from harsh economic reality, Sneijder’s salary may appear ludicrous but it wasn’t his fault. It was the club that agreed to pay the outlandish amount for the services of the midfield maestro. Dangling the carrot of playing hours to scale down the salary of a top player like Sneijder is unfair. Nobody is going to ask questions if he is cast away on form.
Inter president Massimo Moratti has told Sneijder to toe the line. In 2010 the same Sneijder was Moratti’s darling as he helped the Italian club win their first European Cup in more than four decades. In two years the player has become expendable.
Turkish club Galatasaray are ready to snap up Sneijder but the Dutchman is yet to make up his mind on taking the plunge in the less glamorous waters of the Bosphorus. The football world is watching the salary saga with intrigue because Inter vs Sneijder can alter the rules of the off-the-field game in the way Jean-Marc Bosman’s case in 1995 enabled the free movement of players from club to club at the end of their contracts.