United out as Inter stick with Sneijder

IF Manchester United are to sign a midfielder in this transfer window, then it won’t now be Wesley Sneijder.

Neither will the Dutchman be leaving the San Siro nor Carlos Tevez going to Inter Milan, with all of the prospective moves interlinked in a complicated money merry-go-round.

Although any transfer activity at Old Trafford is now unlikely, the Irish Examiner understands that Alex Ferguson had looked into the possibility of revisiting a deal for Sneijder this January. A summer transfer to United collapsed due to the playmaker’s wage demands and it is understood that any new deal would have entailed a merry-go-round similarly dependent on available cash.

Sneijder has actually been out injured of late but, because of the flying form of Argentine attacking midfielder Ricky Alvarez as well as the continued restructuring of the team in the post-Jose Mourinho era, Inter were apparently willing to countenance a sale of Sneijder to United in order to also finance a deal for Tevez.

However, it eventually became apparent to the Inter hierarchy that any money garnered for Sneijder would still not be enough to match Tevez’s exorbitant wage demands.

In the absence of another marquee star to bring to the San Siro, Inter have now decided to not sell Sneijder.

Meanwhile Chris Smalling is adamant Manchester City will “crumble” if United’s relentless pursuit of the Premier League leaders continues much longer.

Smalling helped United secure a vital 2-1 victory at Arsenal on Sunday hours after City moved six points clear of their arch rivals with a last-gasp win against Tottenham.

Alex Ferguson’s men watched the City-Spurs game in the Emirates Stadium dressing room and, rather being dispirited by the result, they took up the gauntlet to move back within striking range.

Smalling said: “Soon enough, if we keep ticking these wins then they’ll crumble.”

Meanwhile, Paul Scholes has played down the impact of his United comeback after helping get their season back on track. Scholes has enjoyed a dream return to the United team after coming out of retirement at the turn of the year.

The 37-year-old, who hung up his boots at the end of last season, has played his part in three successive victories after the club suffered back-to-back defeats over the new year.

“I don’t think I’ve had too big an effect,” he said. “You obviously have to adjust physically but I think you have to adjust mentally as well.

“It does take a bit of getting used to and I think the advantage that I had was that I’d been at the club anyway for the last four or five months doing coaching so it wasn’t too difficult to settle back in.”