Wesley Sneijder to AC Milan: Rubbishing the Rumour

According to talkSPORT, Wesley Sneijder will be the subject of a January transfer bid from bitter rival AC Milan.

Per the source:

"Internazionale want Sneijder to adjust his weekly salary, believed to be around £200,000 and it has been claimed they won't play him until he agrees to a pay-cut."

Here's why a cross-city move is unlikely to materialise.

Current Situation

Massimiliano Allegri has chopped and changed his formation a lot this season in an effort to get things going.

Whenever he's used a system that includes a trequartista, however, he's used Kevin-Prince Boateng in the No. 10 role. This is where the Ghanaian thrives of course, but his form has been abject to say the least.

Across 15 games so far this season, the former Portsmouth star has taken 56 shots, but is yet to record a single goal.

It's becoming difficult to quantify his wastefulness.

What other options are there?

Allegri likes his playmaker, but has shifted to 4-3-3, 3-4-3 and 3-5-2 already this season due to consistent below-par performances.

Boateng needs a change of scenery and Allegri needs a new No. 10.

Loyalties Not an Issue

Anyone thinking Wesley Sneijder would never make the cross-city divide between the Milan clubs should think again.

Player	Clubs
Andrea Pirlo	Inter, Milan, Juventus
Mancini	Roma, Inter, Milan
Zlatan Ibrahimovic	Juventus, Inter, Milan
Ronaldo	Inter, Milan
Hernan Crespo	Lazio, Inter, Milan
Christian Vieri	Juventus, Lazio, Inter, Milan, Fiorentina
Roberto Baggio	Juventus, Milan, Inter

The table suggests loyalties aren't taken too seriously by Serie A's top performers, with countless switches between the top clubs every decade.

Player exchange deals are rare, but Internazionale and AC Milan even managed to record one of these this summer, with Antonio Cassano heading to the Nerazzurri and Giampaolo Pazzini to the Rossoneri.

Wages Are

The team that just sold Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic due to a poor financial outlook are not about to splash circa £20 million on Wesley Sneijder, and then pay him around £200,000 per week.

talkSPORT suggests that the presence of fellow Dutchmen Nigel de Jong and Urby Emanuelson are incentives to complete the deal, but that only applies to the player.

While Kevin-Prince Boateng is underperforming, Massimiliano Allegri has already discovered a way around that—change formation. He played 4-3-3 against reigning champions Juventus and won.

The Italian tactician has workable options outside the Ghanaian, and those don't include putting the club in peril.

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