Galatasaray have agreed a deal to sign Netherlands midfielder Wesley Sneijder from Inter Milan, the Turkish club have confirmed.
The 28-year-old has been locked in contract talks with Galatasaray since Inter accepted a €7.5m bid for his services two weeks ago.
A statement on galatasaray.org read:
“The transfer of Wesley Sneijder from Inter Milan has been agreed. The conditions of the deal will be made public and the player will sign the contract after health checks.”
The Dutch star has signed a three-and-a-half year contract with the Turkish side and told the Gala fans that he was happy to be coming to Turkey:
“I am very happy with my agreement with Galatasaray and I can’t wait to wear this shirt,” Wesley Sneijder told the Turkish club website.
“I am very happy with my agreement with Galatasaray,” Sneijder told the club’s own TV channel.
“I can’t wait to wear the Galatasaray shirt. I know that Turkish people are very passionate about football.
“I feel in good shape and hope to already play in the next match against Besiktas. I heard a lot about Coach Fatih Terim and know his career in Italy well. It will be good to work together.
“Turkish? I hope to learn it soon…”
What amazes me about this deal is how little Inter got for their best player. Galatasaray had previously stated a transfer fee had been agreed with Inter worth €7.5m. When you figure in that Inter are paying Sneijder something like €2.5m as part of the transfer, Inter’s net proceeds for getting rid of their best player will be around €4m!!
But Inter’s board will point out that they get red of Sneijder’s €6M a year (net) wages so that the deal will save them another €24m over the next two seasons.
