ESPN FC: The transfer window's winners and losers



Manchester United failed in a bid to sign Wesley Sneijder in the final weeks of the transfer window, according to Galatasaray's sporting coordinator Bulunt Tulun.

United endured a difficult summer in the transfer market, signing Marouane Fellaini on deadline day but seeing a move for Athletic Bilbao midfielder Ander Herrera collapse amid farcical scenes.

United end with a farce Defeat at Anfield had spurred Manchester United's boardroom into action. As Monday drew to a close, the club were close to spending £60 million - £32m to meet the release clause for Athletic Bilbao midfielder Ander Herrera, and the rest for Everton's Marouane Fellaini. Then, the deal with Herrera fell through because of an elementary misunderstanding about Spanish tax. Manchester United, England's most successful club, are suddenly a laughing stock.



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And it was reported that David Moyes, who had tried to bring in Cesc Fabregas, Thiago Alcantara and Daniele de Rossi, was also thwarted in attempts to recruit Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira from Real Madrid.

Now Galatasaray's Tulun has claimed the Premier League champions also wanted Sneijder, who only joined the Turkish club in January.

"Sneijder received an indirect offer from Manchester United two weeks ago but it was not accepted," Tulun told Milliyet.

"There are several clubs that want him but just like we can't let go of [striker] Burak [Yilmaz] we also have to keep hold of Sneijder."

Midfielder Sneijder, 29, was a United target when he was at Inter Milan and Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge at Old Trafford.

The Holland international, who was the joint top scorer in the 2010 World Cup and helped Inter win the treble of the Champions League, the Coppa Italia and Serie A in the same year, was also linked with Chelsea earlier this summer.

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