Wesley Sneijder joins Galatasaray

Highly rated Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder finally completes his protracted departure from Inter Milan and joins Galatasaray on a three-and-a-half-year contract.

Wesley Sneijder joins Galatasaray on Sunday for £8m

The 28-year-old has been in talks with the Turkish club after both the clubs have come to terms with his transfer fee, reported to be in the region of £8 million.

Sneijder’s future at Inter was in fog after failing fouls with the hierarchies as he refused to take a massive pay cut in order to continue playing for the club. He was under contract with the Serie A outfit till 2015 but hasn’t featured for the Nerazzurri since a 2-0 victory at Chievo in September.

According to reports from the Guardian, the midfielder’s agent Soren Lerby held talks with Galatasaray director Lutfi Arigogan in a hotel in Milan on Sunday evening to sort out his contract, a deal believed to be worth £120,000-per-week. A statement from Galatasaray read:

“The transfer of Wesley Sneijder from Inter Milan has been agreed. The conditions of the deal will be made public and the player will sign the contract after health checks.”

The former Real Madrid star is equally elated with the move and expects to make his debut against derby rivals Besiktas on 27th January. He told the club’s official website:

“It will be amazing and the atmosphere will be nice, I can’t wait to go there and play my first game.

I will make the Galatasaray fans very proud and very happy. I’m looking forward to meeting them and making a good life together.”

English giants Liverpool were also interested in his signature and skipper Steven Gerrard said that the Holland international would be a fantastic player for the club but it seems like the Anfield club couldn’t match his lofty wage demands in the end.

The author of this article is Saikat Mandal, you can follow him on Twitter @SMandal87.

Tags: Galatasary, Inter Milan, Serie A, wesley sneijder