One stumbling block to a move appears to be salary, with the Dutchman currently on £250,000 per week, which does not fit into Man Utd's non-Rooney wage structure. However, if he lessens his salary demands, it seems a move may be in place.

Sneijder started his career in the famous AFC Ajax youth system, quickly establishing himself as a world beater. In 2007, he jumped to the riches of Real Madrid before moving two years later to Inter Milan, the club at which he has come of age. There he has dominated the midfield, leading his team to the Serie A, two Copa Italia triumphs, Champions League glory and the World Club Cup.

He has been equally as dominant on the international stage, leading Holland to the final at the 2010 World Cup and on an individual level taking home the Man of the Match Award in no less than four games, including against Brazil, while winning the World Cup Silver Shoe and attaining a place on the FIFA World Cup All-Star Team. He currently is the UEFA Club Midfielder of the Year and stands strong in the middle of the FIFA FIFPro World XI.

So he is a world-class midfielder, a leviathan in world football.

But will he fit into Man Utd's midfield, or more to the point, can he fill the Shaq-sized shoes of the magnificent Paul Scholes? My answer to this is: He is a wiser choice than probably anybody else.

The first point I want to add in support of this is that, along with winning almost every personal and team award, he is an ideal character. He has no record of Joey Bartons (antagonizing managers, coaches, players, fans, people in general), no record of sparking dressing room discontent, no record of off-the-field antics that bring tension to on-the-field matters. He's a footballer who gets on with doing his job of succeeding on the pitch, so he's kind of ideal in this regard, and this is important.

Now let us get to the statistics. We're going to examine his performances for Inter Milan in the Serie A for 2010/2011, so the latest on record:

Games: 25

Minutes: 1999

Shots: 107

Shots on Target: 33

Goals: 4

Chances Created: 72

Assists: 5

Crosses: 154

Attempted Passes: 1503

Successful Passes: 1284

Attempted Passes in Opposition Half: 1389

It is important to say first that these are reflective of the game of Serie A, which gives more spaces in midfield and less space closer to opposing penalty boxes than the Premier League.

One major criticism of a move for Sneijder is that the player is not a playmaking central midfielder in the way that Paul Scholes has been for the past six or so years, but is rather a classic trequartista.

As said by Louise Taylor at the Guardian, "Trequartista, the Italian for three-quarters, has come to encapsulate an exquisite breed of footballer rarely found in England, whose natural habitat is the hole between central midfield and attack. Generally reliant on imagination and incision rather than speed and strength, these quintessential No10s are not quite secondary strikers but rather attacking playmakers occupying advanced, as opposed to deep-lying, roles."

And a classic trequartista Sniejder indeed is. Of his 1503 attempted passes last season, an incredible 1389, or 92%, were in the opposition team half. He has not been asked to drop back to collect the ball but rather receive it from deeper lying midfielders and serve as the link to the attack.

This raises a tactical challenge for Sir Alex Ferguson in that he does not seek a trequartista - he has Rooney in the hole - but a deeper lying central midfield playmaker in the manner of Paul Scholes, who as every football fan knows does return all the time to collect the ball.

So will Sneijder be asked to adapt his game to that of Man Utd and can he adapt his game to that of Man Utd?

The answer to the first part of the question is clear. Yes, Wesley Sneijder will be asked to adapt his game to that of Man Utd. Sir Alex demands a strong central midfield and will demand from the his new central midfield playmaker a role similar to that of Paul Scholes, which means lying deep, reading the game and controlling the game. And just so all are sure, Sneijder knows this too. He knows how Man Utd play and his role should he be on the team. More than this, he probably is very aware that his game will need to adapt to such a role as he moves into his late 20s and 30s, and so it seems the perfect situation for him.

The answer to the second part of the question is less clear, but for me is not too ambiguous. And just to add, Paul Scholes was a much more attacking player in the beginning of his career. He adapted his game to the demands of Sir Alex and his age. The common thread - the reason he could adapt so comfortably - was that he had incredible ability to read the game in tight spaces and incredible vision.

Wesley Sneijder played trequartista and attempted more than 1300 passes in the opposition half with an 80%+ success rate in a league famous for not granting space close to opponent penalty areas. That he could find the ball and play it off at such a high success rate in such a tight zone is amazing, and distinguishes him from other central midfielders who often can collect it in much more open zones. This tells us that Sneijder has an incredible eye for reading the game and incredible vision on the ball. It is such an eye and vision combined with a team-oriented personality that can adapt to the demands of the deep lying midfield role.

Just to be clear, buying Sneijder, as every player, has an element of risk. He will be asked to play a deeper lying role than ever before in his career and face the pressure of replacing an Old Trafford great. This won't be easy. But what distinguishes Sneijder from others is far more than personality alone. Personality-wise, he seems ideal, a perfect fit for Man Utd - one who will not call out his bosses or teammates or complain about his role but rather one who will be a superb footballer. Yet his game reads as one who will be able to adapt to the Paul Scholes role better than almost anybody else out there. He can find the ball in tight spaces; he can find teammates in tight spaces; he can play more attacking when called upon to do so; he will play deeper when called upon to do so. He is a world-beating footballer who has won almost every award out there.

Sneijder the trequartista is the wisest choice to fill the shoes of Paul Scholes.

Addendum: Just to add some more info, Sneijder created 72 goalscoring chances, or one every 27.7 minutes of play last season, which is in the territory of that of Fabregas (1 every 25) and Xavi (1 every 27) over recent seasons. He's a creator. However if he joins Man Utd expect this rate to drop back quite a bit as he will be demanded to play a deeper playmaking role. The "chances created" stat is misleading, as many in soccer are, due to the diversity of responsibilities of players, but we do learn the depth of the creative instinct and skill of Sniejder by seeing the group of players within which he operates.