Manchester United Transfer News: Should United Feel Confident in Sneijder Bid?

Manchester United have already nearly filled their summer transfer wish list, and we're not even a full month-and-a-half into the summer transfer window. United have grabbed three of the players from the top of their target list: Ashley Young, Phil Jones and David de Gea. 

As of now, just one player remains from the top of that list: a play-making central midfielder. United have looked long and hard at plenty of potential midfield maestros, ranging from Tottenham's Luka Modric to Arsenal's Samir Nasri, to Inter Milan star Wesley Sneijder. 

Of the bunch, Sneijder has been the most intriguing to follow by a fairly sizable margin. After all, it's not every day that one of the world's most talented midfielders could be switching clubs during the offseason, so fans are understandably intrigued. 

In fact, United have gone so far as to look into not just Inter's asking price, but Sneijder's likely salary, which is where the potential pitfalls have come into play in the bid. The 27-year-old Dutch star is currently making an astronomical sum of £250,000-per week, a wage which would put the megastar midfielder's salary above United's current top player, Wayne Rooney. 

On top of that, the Italian giants have been wont to deal the talented midfielder, as he remains one of the sport's elite talents and would be nearly impossible to truly replace in their lineup. 

Despite all of those factors conspiring against United's efforts, a Mirror Football report indicated that the club are feeling extremely confident about their bid to land the Dutch playmaker. 

But should they? Should United really expect that they can convince Sneijder to leave Inter despite the fact that the club have no interest in dealing him, and while offering him less money? 

Yep, you read that right; in an effort to keep Rooney from being hurt by Sneijder's superior salary, United are reportedly preparing to offer the Dutchman a £200,000 per week wage, despite the fact that the Dutchman can stay put and make significantly more money. 

Frankly, their confidence in their ability to get Sneijder is baffling to me. They have to know that while £35 million may be enough to guarantee them negotiating privileges with the Dutch star, he's also happy in Milan, and loves playing for Inter. Therefore, while Sneijder is open to the concept of jumping from one elite club to another, he's not likely to be as open to the possibility of accepting a 20 percent salary cut in order to leave a city and club he's happy in. 

Do they really think he'll be okay with taking less salary to play for them? It's not like United are a bigger club than Inter; it would be a lateral move for the talented midfielder. 

Am I saying that the move is destined to fail? Not necessarily; perhaps Sneijder will take the pay cut to play at Old Trafford, realizing that even if he's only making £200,000 per week, that's still an obscene amount of money per season. 

But United would be wise not to feel too confident in their bid to land their last remaining top target; while their bid may be accepted by the Italian club, convincing Sneijder to take such a major pay cut to leave a club he likes is going to be a serious struggle, and a feat I'm not convinced they can pull off at this point.