Manchester United Show No Signs of Wanting or Needing Wesley Sneijder

When the news emerged early this week that Galatasaray's Wesley Sneijder would be available in January due to the Turkish club's financial struggles, attention immediately turned to Manchester United who have been reportedly chasing the Dutchman since the summer of 2010.

Sami Mokbel of the Daily Mail has reported that the Dutchman's sudden availability is set to spark a bidding war between both Southampton and United, however it is rather unlikely that after five years of speculation United and Sneijder will finally be brought together in January 2015.

As talented as Sneijder still is, aged only 30, there just isn't a place for the Dutchman in Louis van Gaal's team. United haven't struggled creatively this season with the club's biggest challenge coming in having a powerful, commanding presence in both defence and midfield. Unfortunately, Sneijder fits the bill for neither role.

As we saw at the World Cup, Sneijder is a luxury footballer. He is quite capable of turning matches on their head as illustrated by his late equaliser against Mexico in Brazil. However the Galatasaray midfielder is not a combative midfielder who will improve United's defensive resolve and now he often tends to drift in an out of matches, particularly with Galatasaray struggling in Europe.

Manchester United cannot afford passengers at this time with the club so focused on returning to Europe's top table with a top-four Premier League finish. If we take one collective characteristic from United's current six-match winning run, it is that every single player has been working for each other for the entirety of matches. Even Robin van Persie, a player still struggling for fitness, is pressing strongly from the front.

Depending on who you talk to, the deal to take Sneijder to United in both 2010 and 2011 was either very close to happening or a total non-starter. Looking back at the situation, Sir Alex Ferguson was in at the time with Paul Scholes approaching retirement and United's other midfield options looking rather limited. Following the injury struggles of Owen Hargreaves, Sneijder would have been the perfect addition.

The Dutchman was at the top of his game having guided his club side to a European title and his nation to the final of the 2010 World Cup. Even a year later, in the summer of 2011, a deal would still have worked with Sneijder likely to have been the perfect deep-lying playmaker at the heart of Ferguson's midfield.

With Sneijder's name perennially linked with the Old Trafford club since then, the saga itself has become a source of amusement for most United supporters. It is unlikely the club will rejuvenate their interest next month.

Van Gaal has already spoken in no uncertain terms that he finds reports suggesting he has a large transfer budget to spend in January disgusting, as reported by the BBC, and there is a feeling that United will be considerably quieter than people expect in the winter market.

The crux of Sneijder's availability surrounds the Turkish giant's financial struggles. In Sami Mokbel's report, it is stated that Sneijder earns a salary of around £2.5 million-a-year with the club having failed to pay him on numerous occasions over the course of 2014.

Sneijder is believed to be keen to leave and Galatasaray are keen for him to leave, now all that remains is for both parties to find a suitable bidder.

As much as this will irk United supporters, given the obvious links between Van Gaal and Sneijder as well as the fact United are believed to have been chasing Sneijder for such a long time, one of the more sensible moves for Sneijder could be to United's fiercest rivals, Manchester City.

With Kevin Strootman likely to be United's principle midfield target in the summer, as told by Chris Wheeler of the Daily Mail, it is unlikely Van Gaal will pursue another player in that position, nor does he need to.

One of the more surprising elements of the Dutchman's spell in charge at Old Trafford so far has been his ability to give the players many considered on borrowed time at United a sense of belief in their abilities.

Marouane Fellaini is just one example. The Belgian epitomised the failure of David Moyes' disastrous one-year spell in charge of United and it looked for all the world as if he wouldn't survive the summer at the club with Rafa Benitez's Napoli very keen on a loan deal.

Alas, Fellaini remained at Old Trafford and due to his physical attributes and new-found confidence, he has become one of the most important names on the team-sheet.

Michael Carrick's return has boosted the quality of United's midfield, even if he has spent time playing in defence through United's most recent injury crisis. There is little need for the addition of another ball-playing midfielder into that group with even Ander Herrera not guaranteed a starting position every week.

It seems a rather apt end to the long-running Wesley Sneijder saga that once the Dutchman becomes available at a reasonable price, United are no longer interested.

The Dutchman will in all likelihood move on in January with Manchester City very likely depending on Frank Lampard's future, however United will not be missing out. A fine footballer though he is, the time for Sneijder to move to Old Trafford has simply passed and United will look to pursue alternative targets in the summer.