Wesley Sneijder to Galatasaray a breath of fresh air

By Peter Galindo on January 23, 2013

The Wesley Sneijder saga is finally over. The Dutch playmaker completed a move to Turkish giants Galatasaray on Tuesday. He signed a three and a half year contract worth up to €5 million with Inter getting a €7.5 million fee. Sneijder has experienced one of the biggest declines over a two year period than anyone else in recent footballing history. However there’s a silver lining for both him and his new club. A new beginning.

When Sneijder arrived in Istanbul to be unveiled by Galatasaray, the amount of supporters that greeted him was overwhelming. Sneijder had a huge smile on his face and it was obvious that he made the right decision, he finally went to a team that wanted him as opposed to choosing a side that he thought would give him more fame and fortune. Sure Gala doesn’t have the allure of a Premier League side, but the World Cup finalist gets three benefits. Champions League football, since the Cimbom usually qualify for the competition’s group stage, Sneijder will get the limelight of European football. Second, the club is wealthy enough to pay him similar wages to what he was getting at Inter, so no need to settle. Third, and most important, the support the Aslan has is among the world’s best. He’ll get to experience the climax of the fans’ love when they watch their beloved yellow-reds face either Besiktas or Fenerbahce, their two fiercest rivals. Sneijder may even be available for the Besiktas match on Sunday, so he may get to experience that sooner rather than later.

Galatasaray themselves also get a tremendous talent who thrives when the attack centers around him. That’s one of the reasons why Inter did so well in their treble-winning 2009/2010 season. He was the focal point of Jose Mourinho’s squad, dictating the play and opening up room for Diego Milito. Since Galatasaray have no one near the level of his talent, they’ll be able to experience this first hand. Plus he’s still 28, so he has at least five quality years left, there’s very little risk for the Turks in this transaction.

Inter may have let one of their best attackers in recent memory leave in a chaotic matter, but their loss is Galatasaray’s gain. They could be reaping the rewards in the form of domestic titles and Champions League latter stage qualification year in and year out.