Owen Hargreaves has acknowledged the debt of gratitude he owes to new Manchester City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson.
At a time when many pundits argued Hargreaves should be nowhere near the England squad, Eriksson stuck by him and the 26-year-old responded with performances of increasing maturity, culminating in his 2006 World Cup campaign when the midfielder was virtually England’s only stand-out performer.
It could be argued Hargreaves owes his £18 million move to Manchester United to Eriksson’s loyalty, so it is somewhat ironic the pair now find themselves on different sides of the great Mancunian divide.
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Their first meeting will come quickly too when Eastlands plays host to the opening Manchester derby of the campaign on August 19. However, while Hargreaves knows what a key influence Eriksson has been on his career, the former Bayern Munich player feels he has got the better of their respective deals.
“Sven is a fantastic manager,” Hargreaves said. “I appreciated his support of me when, at times, other people possibly didn’t agree. He believed in me and he showed faith in me and I tried to repay that back at the World Cup. But City and United are two very different clubs and so are their ambitions. Sven has great potential there and I wish him all the best, but United are in a league of their own and I am focused on getting us clear of the pack early on.”
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Hargreaves has had to show plenty of patience to get his move to United. The Calgary-born star was desperately disappointed when Sir Alex Ferguson’s initial approach floundered 12 months ago.
A broken leg sustained on club duty with Bayern shortly afterwards scuppered any real hope of the transfer being pushed through in January. However, once the Bundesliga season came to its end - and Bayern missed out on a Champions League place - it was virtually automatic Hargreaves would end his ten-year association with the club.
“It was rather a long, drawn-out situation,” Hargreaves said. “But a club like Bayern Munich is not accustomed to selling players and they had already seen Michael Ballack and Ze Roberto leave on free transfers, so they did not want to sell me. But I made my intentions clear and I am glad they went through with the transfer this summer.”
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Hargreaves already knows he is expected to bring a destructive element to the United midfield next term, offering Ferguson’s defence added protection, while allowing the Red Devils many attacking stars the opportunity to exhibit their skills. “The Premier League is a unique because it is played at such a high pace,” he said. “The fans like to see teams get forward and play attacking football, which is great. Hopefully, I can adapt as quickly as possible.”