The Holland international had been strongly linked with a move to Old Trafford in recent months.
“I had felt that a move was close, yes,” Sneijder said. “There were talks on several occasions.
“The situation was that Inter had to sell a player – (Samuel) Eto’o or me. There was interest, but due to a combination of things, it didn’t happen.”
Inter sold Cameroon forward Eto’o to Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala, leaving Sneijder to remain at the San Siro club.
Sneijder nevertheless admits he would have been tempted to join United.
“They are one of the biggest clubs in the world, so it wasn’t a bad option,” he said.
“But at the same time I didn’t want to leave Inter. I’m in Italy and it’s been great for me. I’m not saying I wouldn’t have felt the same (at United), but for me it wasn’t a situation where I felt I had to move, and there were a few factors that meant it didn’t happen.”
Sneijder joined Inter from Real Madrid in 2009 and helped the Nerazzurri win the Champions League, Serie A and Coppa Italia in his first season in Milan.
“For me it wasn’t so much a financial issue,” he said. “Things are very good at Inter.
“I love the club and also the Italian people and the Italian culture. It suits me.”
Sneijder is under contract with Inter until June 2015.
Meanwhile, Tom Cleverley will not rise to Wayne Rooney’s Twitter-based bait – but he does intend to take his revenge on the golf course next time they have a game.
The United pair are on England duty this week and Rooney, who can never resist a joke or two, took the opportunity to tell his legion of Twitter followers that he intends to “babysit” 22-year-old Cleverley.
The Bradford-raised midfielder clearly requires no such chaperone.
For now though, he intends to bite his tongue, preferring instead to ridicule Rooney’s golf, which the England striker himself thinks is not too bad.
“Some of the tweets that Wayne sends out about me I feel like signing up just so I can respond to him, but I’m not on there yet,” Cleverley said.
“It’s good banter.
“Wayne might be saying he’s babysitting us but we gave him a lesson on the golf course – have done for a few weeks.
“I might start charging for the lessons.”
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The bottom line with this Sneijder scenario is,............
SAF would not pay £30+million for a 27 year old, when he could of DEMANDED from real madrid that he be part of the Ronaldo deal,...half the value, and 2 years younger.
to pay such a huge amount now would of been a massive gamble, If he was 3 years younger, different story of course.
The Book of Wesley Sneijder . . . By The Media . . .
Chapter 872
"Give It A Rest"
MEN are surely extracting the urine with another Story about this guy.
than why didnt you come to old trafford?? hey 35 m man u'll neva join us....you shud hav come or plz dont talk abt that anymore
Unfortunate but its done now doubt at 28 next birthday he will ever arrive now, wont be an option in Jan as will be cup tied in CL hopefully Cleverley, Anderson and Fletcher can step up to the mark and I would love to see Pogba get a chance, he is 18 I know but he looks a lot stronger then most at his age when watching him in Reserves/Youths he looks a man among boys, come on SAF you cited Pogba as a reason for not investing in CM hope he gets his chance which I am sure he will, maybe Morrission too is he ready for the first team?????
oh well, got Cleverley and Pogba, Anderson and Fletcher, the legendary Giggs and Morrison, Carrick and Jones (if Sir Alex choose to)....all's good in the life of United.
We're plenty lads who can play in central midfield, i'm for one glad we didnt waste the money on this guy, Cleverley has been fantastic, a real playmaker for us in his early days and ddeserves a long run in the starting xi.
I wanted Sneijder to come to United but it seems quite clear now that he didn't want to give up La Dolce Vita so we are better off without him.
Tomorrow's story "Sneijder's Holland" and Monday's "Wesley's Utrecht - the real Netherlands" are going to be really good articles - can't wait to read them!
What this mean Thanks but no Thanks??
Oh, and MEN - if you could provide us with a photo montage of the agonies and ecstasies of Wesley with a backing track of "didn't we almost have it all" it'd really be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
And maybe a colour supplement in Friday's edition "Amsterdam, Madrid, Milan but not Manchester - the story of how MEN journalists couldn't drag out a story long enough to set records but gave it a really good try"
he wasn't worth the money at the end of the day. If he really wanted to play for us he would have made it happen. What you never had you never miss!
...oh and don't forget....
"Graeme Hogg's October update - why Sneijder wouldn't have liked October living in Cheshire"
"Clayton Blackmore's Sneijders penetration is really missing"
and of course...
"Red Nevs Wes Snez Big Head"
And not forgetting the year's best seller... Stuart Mathieson's "My Way - How I Covered the Wesley Sneijder Potential Transfer to United" (foreword by James Robson of course)
The thing that strikes me about all these potential signings (namely Sneijder and Nasri) is that United obviously do not possess the financial clout to go that 'extra mile'. Nasri was quoted as saying in last weekends press that he would have 'loved to sign for United', but didn't sign because his agent wanted 4 million. Well if that's the case, give it him! Different scenario with Sneijder, but clearly money is the issue. If you want to be the best, you have to get the best!
Have to applaud MEN's imagination at getting another Sneijder story out! Looking forward to the next installment when we first drop points or lose a game:)
I'm of the opinion that had we sold Berbatov and bought a top class CM (not necessarily Sneijder although he would have been an excellent acquisition) we would have had an unbelievably strong squad this season. As it is we are top heavy with forwards and defenders and light in midfield as we have been for 2/3 seasons now. That will make all the difference when it comes to the latter stages of the CL again. I hope Pogba is given a chance but I suspect this is just a smokescreen.
Coming next week:
Saturday: The mystery:How my value increased threefold and Diego Forlan's didn't after World Cup 2010
Sunday: Weekend away with the Mrs. Amalfi coast or Blackpool illuminations?
Monday: Exclusive:My discussions with David Gill and Malcolm on the 100k gap
Tuesday: Wesley reveals his weekend with Carlos, and his disappointment in the two Manchester restaurants Carlos has discovered in three years.
Wednesday: How the emergence of Tom Cleverley ruined my life
Thursday: How many Ferrari's can you buy in a year on an extra 100,000 quid a week
Friday: The Dutch maestro tells all about his rejection of Manchester City's 2,000,000 pounds a week offer
and so it never ends next weekends special: There may be a chance of me joining in January to take United to Carling Cup glory, but I do love life in Italy.
Yes T&C we have people in charge who arent going to waste money on players when they could be wasting it paying interest on loans that were unnecessarily loaded on the club.
Forget Sneijder. United won't pay the money to get him. Ferguson is trying to save money for ther Glazers and he has a blind spot about midfielders. He doesn't rate them as very important & thinks that he can get away with mediocre midfielders ... which is why United have underperformed in Europe at the semi-final & final stages. Ferguson is obsessed with strikers (like himself, you see) & wingers. So we United fans have to resign ourselves to losing again in the Champion's League this season.