Born in Utrecht, former Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder emerged as a youngster at Ajax and also played for Real Madrid and Inter Milan.
During his time in Italy, he also won the Champions League with Jose Mourinho.In the winter of 2013, he was close to a move away from Inter and a move to Manchester United.
However, his agent mishandled the situation and the transfer was scuppered. Then, interest also arrived from Liverpool, then managed by Brendan Rodgers, but he explained why he sought a new home in Turkey.
“The first one was for Man United, that was the thing my manager screwed up a little — my agent at the time,”
“And later on it was Liverpool, and I decided Galatasaray over Liverpool. Just because Liverpool was in that time not the Liverpool that it is nowadays.”
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The player spent time at Galatasaray until 2017, before retiring from Nice and Al-Gharafa. In his career, he scored 153 goals and 145 assists in 574 games, and also played 134 games for the Netherlands national team, scoring 31 goals.
At the 2010 World Cup, he played 120 minutes in the dying minutes as his side reached the final. Although he narrowly missed out on the championship, he made his mark as an attacking midfielder who could also score.
After his retirement, he was no longer the player he had been, and he had changed into a plump figure.
However, I would have liked to have seen the former Dutch midfielder, who was a world-class player at the time, at Anfield.