Inter, City dismiss Sneijder bid

Manchester City and Inter have both denied reports in the Gazzetta dello Sport that a bid has been made for Wesley Sneijder.

The 27-year-old Dutch international playmaker has been strongly linked with a Premier League move, particularly to City’s close rivals Manchester United, but Inter maintain no talks have taken place.

“There are no negotiations for him,” Inter chief executive officer Ernesto Paolillo told reporters in Beijing.

“I’ve already said it and I repeat it – there aren’t any negotiations.”

Meanwhile, an unnamed Manchester City source told BBC Sport that no bid had been made for Sneijder.

However, Paolillo refused to rule out a move as speculation continues to surround the Dutchman’s future, adding: “If an offer arrives that is non-refusable, and this is the same for Sneijder and every other player, only in that moment would we think about what to do,” he said.

Last week Inter coach Gian Piero Gasperini acknowledged that there had been an offer for Sneijder, widely believed to be from Manchester United.

However, manager Sir Alex Ferguson has refused to be drawn on the issue, denying quotes attributed to him saying a contract offer had been made.

Ferguson has also rubbished rumours that he is looking to offload last season’s top goalscorer Dimitar Berbatov.

Despite scoring an impressive 20 Premier League goals last season, Berbatov often found himself on the bench behind Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez and was not even in the squad for the Champions League final against Barcelona at Wembley.

When recently questioned about Berbatov by a French journalist, Sir Alex suggested there was a possibility of a move to Paris Saint Germain – though he subsequently claimed he had not fully understood the question.

“It’s nonsense,” he has now told SkySports.

“There’s absolutely no interest (from PSG)] or encouragement from us either.”

“I thought she was asking about our chances for the season.”

Ferguson has an abundance of striking options next season with Danny Welbeck, Mame Biram Diouf and Federico Macheda all returning from loan spells to challenge the leading trio.