‘Guti calls Sneijder about Inter’

Wesley Sneijder received a remarkable phone call before he joined the Netherlands squad for their friendly matches against Italy and Paraguay. Reportedly, his former team-mate at Real Madrid telephoned him about the prospect of joining Inter.

The 32-year-old midfielder is out of favour at the Santiago Bernabeu after falling out with Manuel Pellegrini. Guti has been ruled out of the first team after launching a tirade at Pellegrini following Real’s 4-0 defeat to Alcorcon last month in the Copa del Rey.

According to Il Corriere Dello Sport Guti rang Sneijder to ask if he could persuade Inter President Massimo Moratti to intervene on his behalf. Moratti wanted to sign the Spain international a few years ago but Inter boss Jose Mourinho is not interested in Guti.

Inter would like to reinforce their central midfield, but with a young Italian like Parma’s Daniele Galloppa, who is a lifelong fan of the Nerazzurri.

Inter are apparently going to be very busy in the January transfer window mainly trying to sell Ricardo Quaresma and Amantino Mancini.

They are also looking to strengthen their attack, possibly with the signing of Lazio striker Goran Pandev, as Samuel Eto’o will be away in the spring playing for Cameroon in the African Nations Cup.