MADRID, August 27 – Inter Milan have reached a deal to sign Dutch international midfielder Wesley Sneijder from Real Madrid for five years for around 16 million euros, Spanish radio reported Wednesday.
The 25-year-old, who had reportedly been refusing to budge from the Spanish giants, will earn four million euros (5.7 million dollars) per year under the deal compared to around 3.5 million euros at Real, radio Onda Cero added.
Italian paper La Gazzetta dello Sport likewise reported Sneijder was on his way to the San Siro following an afternoon of meetings with the Real hierarchy.
Sneijder, who joined Real from Ajax in the summer of 2007 on a five-year deal worth 27 million euros, is one of several players who the Spanish side are trying to offload to counterbalance the mega-millions purchase of Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Xabi Alonso.
Real president Florentino Perez has already spent over 250 million euros on new players since he returned to the helm of the club in June.
Earlier this month Real sold Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar to Italian side AC Milan and two other Dutch players, Rafael Van der Vart and Arjen Robben, could also be sold before the summer transfer period ends
Sneijder’s move would complete an impressive set of aquisitions during the off-season by Inter, who have already added Samuel Eto’o, Diego Milito, Thiago Motta, Lucio and Marco Arnautovic to the squad.
He played 52 league matches for Real, scoring 11 goals, and played nine times in the Champions League.
The Dutchman would be the final piece in Inter coach Jose Mourinho’s jigsaw as the Portuguese has been after an attacking midfielder all summer to play at the point of his diamond formation in the centre of the park.
