Wesley Sneijder claims he never intend leaving Inter for Manchester United

Inter playmaker Wesley Sneijder has stated that at no point during the summer did he want to leave the club to join Manchester United, and that he is happy in Serie A.

The Netherlands international was heavily and persistently linked with a move to the Premier League champions due to financial difficulties at the Giuseppe Meazza, but in the end Samuel Eto'o was sold to Anzhi Makhachkala instead. The former Real Madrid star has insisted that he is content with his current employers, and did not ask to leave.

“I never wanted to leave Inter," the 27-year-old told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"Over the summer they called me and said, I think due to a financial issue, that I could be leaving Italy. This made me change my ideas a little bit, but once I got to pre-season training everyone made me feel important to this club."

Claudio Ranieri's men have started this term sluggishly, but the attacking midfielder feels his side can make up the ground on its title rivals. "We can make up the eight points separating us from the top of the table now that the most important players have recovered from injury," Sneijder claimed.

“I see our principle opponents as being Napoli. Now we must concentrate on the games against Chievo and Atalanta so we can reach next week’s match with Juventus in the right spirit."