Sneijder mulling return at Utrecht, Dutch press claim

The Hague (AFP) – Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder is considering coming out of retirement to play for his hometown club Utrecht, local media have reported.

Sneijder won a national record of 134 caps and was key to the Netherlands’ march to the World Cup final in 2010, the same year he led Inter Milan to glory in the Champions League.

But he retired in 2018 after finishing on a low at Al Gharafa in Qatar and hasn’t played for two seasons.

The return appears to have been evoked by Utrecht fans putting out a video asking him to join their club, possibly in reaction to seeing Arjen Robben promise a return at his hometown club Groningen.

“I’ll give it a think through, I have already spoken to Jordy (Zuidam, the Utrech boss),” the 36-year-old Sneijder told local television.

Zuidam told the press he was also open to the idea.

“The ball is in his court, a fit and motivated Wesley Sneijder would interest us,” he said. 

Sneijder came through the youth system at Ajax before his big break with Real Madrid and Inter Milan, and more modestly at Galatasaray and Nice at the tail end of his career.