Wesley Sneijder Wants To Remain At Inter Milan Till the End of His Career
Although there is still a long time before his career ends, Wesley Sneijder still wants to commit himself to Inter Milan for the rest of his career. The Dutchman is 26 years old, and is playing his best football at this moment.
Wesley Sneijder, the prolific Dutchman, is a product of well-known Ajax Amsterdam’s youth academy. Sneijder rose through the ranks to become probably the best midfielder of Netherlands, and one of the best in the world. Sneijder spent five seasons with Ajax before being picked up by Real Madrid in 2007.
At that point, Real Madrid was in a phase of building for another European title. For this purpose, most of the players picked up were from the Dutch team, including Arjen Robben and Rafael van der Vaart. Sneijder won a league title with Real Madrid, but in his second season, Madrid was humiliated by a resurgent Barcelona side.
Some drastic measures were required in order to stop the onslaught of Barcelona. Therefore, Madrid decided to spend a fortune on some new world class players, and they decided to let go of all their Dutch players. However, Van der Vaart and Drenthe remained at the club, while Robben and Sneijder had to make way for the upcoming breed of Madrid players.
Time would tell that this decision did not prove to be a good one for Real Madrid. Again they had an early exit in the Champions League, while Barcelona won another league title in the season. On the other hand, Wesley Sneijder won a tremendous treble with his new team, Inter Milan. Sneijder was up against his old teammate, Arjen Robben, as Inter faced Bayern Munich in the final of Champions League. The dream run of these Dutch players continued till the World Cup, as they came out as runners-up in the tournament.
There is no doubt that Sneijder has improved a lot during his stay at Inter Milan. Previously, even though he was a supposed good player, he often took a lot of pressure upon himself, which resulted in a lack of adequate performance on the pitch. Also, like many other Dutch players, he was also a little injury prone. The same was the problem with his teammate Arjen Robben, as both these players missed a lot of action because of injury woes. In his last season at Madrid, Sneijder only participated in 22 matches in La Liga.
After coming to Inter Milan, Sneijder’s performances improved drastically. Perhaps this happened because of the interest shown by Jose Mourinho in the midfielder. Nonetheless, all the problems faced by the Dutchman, including his concentration issues and fitness problems, seemed to go away as he played for his new team. Although he missed a little action, he was there when his team needed him the most. In the end, Inter Milan won an incredible treble, and Sneijder played a very significant role in his team’s success.
This good form continued even after the end of the season, as Sneijder played incredibly well for his Dutch side in South Africa. He was the joint top-scorer with five goals in the tournament. Also, he was behind his team’s second position in South Africa, as he played a great role in the midfield.
There is no doubt that Italian football has suited Wesley Sneijder more than anything. He is enjoying the best days of his career, as he would definitely be tipped as a contender for the FIFA Player of the Year award. Due to this reason, Sneijder has declared his intentions to stay at Inter for the rest of his life.
It is actually a normal trend in Italy, as many players in the past have devoted themselves to their clubs. An example is of Juventus, when some big players (Buffon, Del Piero and Nedvěd) decided to stay with the team despite their relegation. The players love the atmosphere in Italy, and the fan following is absolutely delightful. Perhaps Sneijder kept all these things in mind before making up his mind. The only problem is that Inter Milan would keep him as long as he is indispensible, after which he would have to look for some new challenge.
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