Neville hopes for Sneijder arrival at Manchester United

Phil Medlicott,Pa
Monday 11 July 2011 11:01 EDT
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United have been strongly linked with a move for Sneijder
United have been strongly linked with a move for Sneijder (GETTY IMAGES)

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Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville hopes to see Wesley Sneijder arrive at Old Trafford this summer - although he has stressed manager Sir Alex Ferguson will not pay over the odds for any player.

United have been strongly linked with a move for Sneijder, who in 2010 reached the World Cup final with Holland and won the Treble with his club side Inter Milan.

Last week Red Devils assistant manager Rene Meulensteen said he "could not think of a more ideal player for our team" than the 27-year-old midfielder and Neville is similarly confident that Sneijder would fit in well at United.

"He is a great player who has played at some great football clubs like Real Madrid and Inter Milan, and it won't faze him coming here," Neville told Press Association Sport.

"He has the intelligence to play in areas where he is difficult to pick up, he can score goals and he can assist.

"He would be a great signing, but I'm sure there are a number of clubs that are looking at him.

"I hope that Manchester United get him, but I don't know whether that will be the case."

The possibility of a deal for Sneijder is uncertain, particularly in light of Inter coach Gian Piero Gasperini's claim today that the playmaker wants to stay at the San Siro.

Given that Sneijder is valued at around £35million and is under contract with Inter until June 2015, it would take a sizeable outlay to secure his services.

Central midfield is a position Ferguson is keen to bolster following the retirement of Paul Scholes and departure of Owen Hargreaves at the end of last season, and Arsenal's Samir Nasri and Tottenham's Luka Modric are also reported to be on the Scot's radar.

Neither of those would come cheap either, though, and while Neville accepts United could do with a player of that ilk, he is sure Ferguson - who has already recruited Phil Jones, Ashley Young and David de Gea in the past month - is not about to splash out an inflated sum to address the issue.

"I know the manager will definitely be looking at the midfield areas - the creative areas," Neville said.

"With Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves leaving, it does leave a slight gap there, but he certainly won't panic himself into buying somebody if the value is not there.

"If the player is not there, he will go with those he has got.

"He knows full well that the likes of Ryan Giggs, Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher and Anderson are more than capable of delivering that high level of performance for a season, and there are young players as well that are coming through, who will have the ability to step in."

Young was amongst the travelling party as United flew out to Boston today to begin their pre-season tour of the United States.

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