Barca make Sneijder move

Barcelona are reported to have opened initial talks with Ajax for Wesley Sneijder.

The hugely-talented Dutch forward has been linked with a number of clubs in recent months, with a summer move away from Ajax widely touted.

Barcelona have always been towards the front of the queue and reports suggest they have now made their move.

Sneijder is contracted until 2009 at the Amsterdam ArenA but is widely expected to depart this summer.

Several sources now claim that Barca have sent an official to open negotiations with Ajax - who are asking for around €12million (£8million) for their prized asset.

Valencia and Atletico Madrid are also believed to have made recent enquiries, but Barca are very much leading the chase.

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This could be press speculation, lazy journalism (slow news day) .. i doubt Sneijder would leave this summer..if he does, a huge blow for Ajax.

I doubt Barca would have opened negotiations without fear of loseing a key player in the summer, the question is who...

deco replacement... deco coming to england (probably) but he would be better off going to Italy.

Only Deco + Iniesta have to make way .. but:

I doubt Barcelona would sell Deco
Iniesta is staying for sure

also talks about Xavi leaving .. Sneijder cant replace him, and i doubt they sell him even with the press speculation (swap for Cristiano Ronaldo .. Manchester United don't want him)

So if Barcelona want him to be a 'bench warmer', he better think twice.

this season iniesta has looked a top player and probably outplayed deco.
is quite a bit of deco-leaving talk floating about the red top rags in england (not that you can read too much into what those idiots print) but no smoke without fire!
does it depend on Rijkard though?? will he still be at barca next season??!

Why would they want another hobbit in midfield. Sneijder is very similar to Xavi/Deco/Iniesta apart from he scores alot more. Surely they need to buy an Essien type player instead?!

Xavi was back to his best last night.

Not just saying that because he scored but his passing and movement were top notch.

There'd be mad to sell either Xavi or Iniesta, so I can only think he'd replace Deco.

hobbits, hehehheh: thats why they wont win at anfield, which i think is a crying shame but oh well.

We won't be buying Sniejder because Cryuff has said he isn't a barca Quaility signing(he said he was Very good) but not better that any of the 3 we already have.

It was is sport just in case you guys were wondering.

Messiah wrote:We won't be buying Sniejder because Cryuff has said he isn't a barca Quaility signing(he said he was Very good) but not better that any of the 3 we already have.

It was is sport just in case you guys were wondering.

The same Cruyff who labeled him a potential world star?

Cruyff does not want him to leave Ajax, simple as that.

A lot of Bayern fans would love to see him play for them, in the central midfield behind the strikers.

blutgraetsche wrote:A lot of Bayern fans would love to see him play for them, in the central midfield behind the strikers.

Keep hearing this, Ajax wont sell to Bayern though ..

Bayern are building a young and promising team, and they have two Dutchie seniors in key positions already. I'm sure that it would work, but if you say that Ajax won't sell him to Bayern, so be it.

From the Werder perspective, I don't want them to sign him either.

blutgraetsche wrote:Bayern are building a young and promising team, and they have two Dutchie seniors in key positions already. I'm sure that it would work, but if you say that Ajax won't sell him to Bayern, so be it.

From the Werder perspective, I don't want them to sign him either.

Ajax are doing the same; building a promising young team, Sneijder is part of that .. would Bayern sell to Ajax, Podolski, Schweinsteiger etc?

the problem with him is his 'ego' could ruin it, if he sees himself linked with Barcelona .. he wants to go, despite Barcelona may not want him ..

With that big ego, he would fit perfectly into Bayern.

blutgraetsche wrote:With that big ego, he would fit perfectly into Bayern.

Its best, if the ego is destroyed at Ajax .. Bayern currently have 2 Dutch players .. how many in their illustrious history?

Ajax have only had 1 German in their team in their history.

Don't want to start a international row, but there are a couple of Germans who may interest Ajax at this moment in time (Trochowski + Gomez are just two to name)

Rai Krol wrote:
Its best, if the ego is destroyed at Ajax .. Bayern currently have 2 Dutch players .. how many in their illustrious history?

Ajax have only had 1 German in their team in their history.

Don't want to start a international row, but there are a couple of Germans who may interest Ajax at this moment in time (Trochowski + Gomez are just two to name)

Dutchies at Bayern is a rather new phenomenon. AFAIK, the love story began with Wurst-Uli Hoeness spending ~19m EUR for Makaay a few years ago, and never regretting it. Then they got Van Bommel in a surprise coup last summer, and now the interest in Van der Vaart or Sneijder.
Van der Vaart is an obvious alternative to Sneijder, but too injury prone. Bayern are really fed up with that (Deisler, Santa Cruz etc.).

I've absolutely no problem with Ajax being interested in German players, on the contrary. Ajax still has the name, is seen as Holland's number 1 club (despite the success of PSV lately), so why should promising German youngsters not play for Ajax? Trochowski just extended his contract with HSV though, and Stuttgart will most definitely not sell Gomez anytime soon, to no one.

Do you have to be a midget to be in the barca midfield. snieder deco iniesta xavi smallest midfield ever in the history of football.

Hehe yeah, that's what I thought also. Barca need an aggressive defensive midfielder, a Hargreaves / Sissoko etc. type, not another smurf. Otherwise their midfield will basically get overpowered by physically (and technically) strong midfields, as could be seen in the Liverpool match.

blutgraetsche wrote:

Rai Krol wrote:
Its best, if the ego is destroyed at Ajax .. Bayern currently have 2 Dutch players .. how many in their illustrious history?

Ajax have only had 1 German in their team in their history.

Don't want to start a international row, but there are a couple of Germans who may interest Ajax at this moment in time (Trochowski + Gomez are just two to name)

Dutchies at Bayern is a rather new phenomenon. AFAIK, the love story began with Wurst-Uli Hoeness spending ~19m EUR for Makaay a few years ago, and never regretting it. Then they got Van Bommel in a surprise coup last summer, and now the interest in Van der Vaart or Sneijder.
Van der Vaart is an obvious alternative to Sneijder, but too injury prone. Bayern are really fed up with that (Deisler, Santa Cruz etc.).

I've absolutely no problem with Ajax being interested in German players, on the contrary. Ajax still has the name, is seen as Holland's number 1 club (despite the success of PSV lately), so why should promising German youngsters not play for Ajax? Trochowski just extended his contract with HSV though, and Stuttgart will most definitely not sell Gomez anytime soon, to no one.

If I'm not mistaken a lot more Dutchies have played for Bayern : Jan Wouters and Martin "Tony Soprano" Jol for sure.

And I also think more than one German has played for Ajax.

...I don't think it's that special or that big a deal to be honest.

Trochowski would be a major hit in Amsterdam or AZ, he would be supurbly suited to the way these teams play ! (can't see it happening though, Dutch clubs simply don't have the money to buy that kind of player).

Van der Vaart could do *very* well at Bayern....if he's given a free role, just like Stevens does now.

I'm not so sure about Sneijder at Bayern....I don't think Makaay and Van Bommel like him much...and I expect Hitzfeld and co to try to get players that *don't* fit the FC Hollywood mold.

Sneijder is a FC Hollywood all by himself...

At Barcelona on the other hand he'd obviously be a replacement for Deco, who's also an annoying little c#nt....so apparently that's no problem. Deco doesn't have to defend...that's fortunate because Sneijder refuses to. Rijkaard and Neeskens can handle his ego problems.

....he might actually fit very well at Barcelona

STRIK ER OM EN WEG ER MEE !

@ Blut

Trochowski + Gomez are two i rate at this moment, but as you say they wont be leaving their sides anytime soon (same as Sneijder)

I don't believe any minute that Barcelona are interested in Sneijder if they are not going to sell Deco, Xavi or Iniesta (the last two are staying).

not another smurf

This must be the 'fashionable' word to insult players of a certain height .. spreading round this board like wild fire...

@ Axe

I believe only one German (well notable) that has played for Ajax .. Mr Horst Blankenburg.

You are correct Axe, I forgot about Jol and Wouters. But hey, I'm no Bayern fan.

VDV would work well for Bayern indeed, I agree, that's why I don't want to see this transfer happening. But he really is too injury prone, that could be a problem.

Axe, remember that Bayern sold Trochowski for just 1m EUR 2 years ago. I really don't think that paying 1m for such a talented youngster would have been too much for most Eredivisie clubs.

Kahn will retire soon, so Bayern actually need someone to replace the "Hollywood" part soon. And remember that the worst "FC Hollywood" days were under Hitzfeld's reign, with Effenberg and Strunz changing partners. And actually, VDV has a lot of "Hollywood" appeal also, with his wife Silvie...

But yeah, Hitzfeld probably has seen enough of that for a lifetime.

Rai Krol wrote:
This must be the 'fashionable' word to insult players of a certain height .. spreading round this board like wild fire...

la la lalalala la lalalala

blutgraetsche wrote:

Rai Krol wrote:
This must be the 'fashionable' word to insult players of a certain height .. spreading round this board like wild fire...

la la lalalala la lalalala

Bunch of Communists.

I'm not a huge fan of Sneijder. I prefer VdV, and even isn't someone Barca need either. Barca need a DM (unless Marquez starts performing) and a CB (Andrade) Thuram is good but old, Marquez has been inconsistent. RB possibly, but Oleguer has been good.

I imagine in a couple of years, Barca's lineup will be:

-----DM------
Xavi----Iniesta

blutgraetsche wrote:
Axe, remember that Bayern sold Trochowski for just 1m EUR 2 years ago. I really don't think that paying 1m for such a talented youngster would have been too much for most Eredivisie clubs.

indeed, but I don't think he was on anyone's radar by that time.

...he is now though !

What's his worth now, anywhere in the 6-10M range ?

AZ already have Maarten Martens, otherwise I could have seen them made a move for him. They invest big time in young talent.

blutgraetsche wrote:
And actually, VDV has a lot of "Hollywood" appeal also, with his wife Silvie...

VDV has Hollywood appeal *off* the pitch but he has no ego problems and a superb work rate *on* the pitch....a bit like Beckham really.

If Bayern are serious about continuing with Van Bommel (and I can't see why, he's suited perfectly for their game) they should go easy on the ego's....because Mark is not one to play in a team that suffers from someone with an ego problem and stay quiet about it, he will force the issue.

As always the transfer roundabout will be interesting this summer

Biggest mistake (so that will probably happen) is Diego to Bayern => he won't fit and be completely useless for them.

I can see VDV in a Mcdonalds advert, how Hollywood is that?

His wife is ruining him .. this guy had the World on his feet, and BANG it could disappear.

We won't sell Diego to Bayern, that will simply not happen. We won't sell him to anyone this summer, I'm very sure about that. I can see your point though.

Trochowski may be worth that much now, but before HSV extended his contract, you really could have gotten him way cheaper. I'd say 5-6m EUR tops now (we don't have those inflated prices of the EPL), roughly the same amount of cash Leverkusen paid for Kießling. If he continues like this, and becomes a regular for die Mannschaft, his market value will increase, of course.

As far as VDV is concerned, you are right, he is no "Stinkstiefel" as we say over here, he doesn't cause trouble. But he is a natural leader though, too young to lead on his own yet (as could be seen in Hamburg often this season), but mature enough to have a leading role together with other senior players like Van Bommel, for example.

Yeah, the transfer market will be interesting indeed. We need to do something about our midfield ourselves, need a replacement for Baumann who is old and too injury prone now. Another reason why I can't see us selling any of our key midfielders this summer. Wouldn't mind to get rid of Vranjes and Pasanen though...

Rai Krol wrote:
@ Axe

I believe only one German (well notable) that has played for Ajax .. Mr Horst Blankenburg.

A swift google : http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arno_Steffenhagen

Axeslammer wrote:

Rai Krol wrote:
@ Axe

I believe only one German (well notable) that has played for Ajax .. Mr Horst Blankenburg.

A swift google : http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arno_Steffenhagen

I said 'notable', Steffenhagen 'no offence' was not 'notable'...

still, he does count .. Trochowski to add to the list (i wish)