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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Isaac Johnson

'Must be a stunt' - Wesley Sneijder questions Manchester United pursuit of Wout Weghorst

Wesley Sneijder is baffled by Manchester United’s interest in Wout Weghorst, saying he can barely believe it is true.

Weghorst is at the centre of a triangular club transfer battle, with United trying to put together a compensation deal that would see Besiktas agree to end his loan, and in turn allow Burnley to loan the striker to United for the remainder of the campaign.

The player himself is keen on a move and seemingly gestured his goodbyes to fans and staff after scoring the winner against Kasimpasa on Saturday. However, Besiktas are determined to keep the Dutchman and refuted suggestions that Weghorst would leave.

READ MORE: Manchester United working on new Wout Weghorst deal

The attacker has scored nine times in 18 outings for the Turkish giants this season and also netted twice for the Netherlands at the World Cup, grabbing the late brace that forced Argentina into extra time during their quarter-final defeat, which ended on penalties.

Speaking to VP, Sneijder said: "I think they've seen the trick with the free kick [against Argentina], so they don't fall for that in England anymore. In terms of striker, is he really someone United are waiting for?

“I don't think so. They still have 300 of those in the Premier League. It must be a stunt. This really can't be true." Weghorst scored just twice in 20 Premier League games for Burnley last season."

Weghorst had scored 18 goals or more in the previous five seasons while at German club Wolfsburg and Dutch outfit AZ Alkmaar, netting 20-plus in three of those campaigns. Weghorst fired home 27 goals in the 2017/18 season for the latter before notching 25 in the 2020/21 campaign in Germany.

But the 30-year-old finished last term with just nine goals overall, his lowest total since 2012/13 - his second season as a senior professional.

After a £225m spend in the summer, United are having to look for loan deals this window and Erik ten Hag has identified Weghorst as a target with Reds-linked Joao Felix seemingly temporarily heading to Chelsea from Atletico Madrid.

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