Chelsea Transfer Rumors: Inter Milan Star Wesley Sneijder on the Blues' Radar

Dutch footballer Wesley Sneijder is rumored to want a move to the Premier League this summer with Chelsea FC a preferred destination.

The Inter Milan star was once the prized possession of the Italian club after his Dutch side finished runner up at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Sneijder was the only Dutch player to make the tournament all-star team.

This summer, he was the hot topic around Old Trafford as Sir Alex Ferguson was supposedly interested in making him his big-name signing of the summer.

However, Manchester United and Sneijder were unable to come to terms over the player’s weekly payment.

As the winter transfer window came around talks picked up again, but Sneijder has not exactly had the best 2011-12 campaign.

ESPN’s Michael Cox’s column on the players collapse following the World Cup lays out the problem:

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Sneijder seems to have forgotten the type of player he is.

In 2009-10, he was absolutely superb by pulling the strings between the lines, and creating chances for Diego Milito, Samuel Eto'o and Goran Pandev. When used further forward in European competition, he prompted the counterattacks, combining with Milito but leaving the goal scoring to the Argentine.

Sneijder scored just four times in the league, and eight in all competitions. He was a playmaker, not a goal scorer…It's not so easy to play between the lines. There's a brilliant player somewhere in Wesley Sneijder, but his current form barely justifies a place in the Inter side, let alone at the heart of it.

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Sneijder will be hoping that Chelsea share Cox’s sentiment about the midfielder still having the ability to be a great player as he has already turned down big money moves to Zenit St. Petersburg and Anzhi Makhachkala.

It is quite obvious that Sneijder still feels he has something to prove at the highest level.

With a new manager coming into Stamford Bridge this summer, owner Roman Abramovich will open his checkbook to provide the new coach with the necessary funds to build his team.

Matching Sneijder’s requested £200,000 per week will not be easy, but if anyone can meet the high demands, Abramovich is the man to do so.

Manchester City are also a preferred destination for the 27-year-old Sneijder