Manchester United in Wesley Sneijder Talks

Manchester United were close to sealing the sensational £35million transfer of Inter Milan star Wesley Sneijder last night, according to reports.

United chief executive David Gill had stayed behind in Manchester to complete negotiations on the club record transfer when Alex Ferguson and his squad flew out to the United States on Monday.

Gil was informed by the Italian giants that £35m would land the 27-year-old playmaker, while Sneijder himself is "intrigued" by the possibility of a move to England.

Sir Alex Ferguson will now take his summer spending to more than £85m on four players this summer after also buying Phil Jones, Ashley Young and goalkeeper David De Gea.

The scot views the Dutchman as the closest he could get to replacing the retired Paul Scholes.

United legend Gary Neville said: "Sneijder is a player with great football intelligence."

Manchester Clubs In £30m Transfer Battle

Inter Milan midfielder Wesley Sneijder is at the centre of a sensational £30million transfer tug of war between arch-rivals Manchester United and Manchester City.Sneijder, 26, made a flying visit to England last week and then ­travelled on to Los Angeles to ­discuss his future with his model wife Yolanthe, who is on an ­assignment in California.Sneijder has told both clubs that they will have to smash through the £200,000-a-week wage barrier to land him.That will not worry the cash-rich Blues – even though they are looking to rein in ­expenditure as they look to comply with UEFA’s ­Financial Fair Play ­Regulations.And United proved when they broke their wage ­structure last season to hand Wayne Rooney a new ­contract worth £250,000-a-week that they will dig deep for the right player.United believe they are favourites to win the battle for the exciting Holland ­international who would be a direct on-field ­replacement for Paul Scholes, who retired last week.

Soren Lerby, Sneijder’s agent, met Sir Alex Ferguson at United’s team hotel in London in April before the Reds played West Ham. Ferguson has also turned his attentions to Tottenham’s Luca Modric after being made aware that City are ready to splash the cash for Sneijder.

City chief executive Garry Cook and football ­administration officer Brian Marwood are both currently in America.

Sneijder, a close friend of City midfielder Nigel de Jong, was one of the stars of the World Cup last summer as Holland reached the final where they lost 1-0 to Spain in a controversial clash ­refereed by Howard Webb.