MANCHESTER UNITED expect to overcome Bayern Munich’s fierce resistance by securing a £13 million deal to sign Owen Hargreaves within the next seven days after the England midfield player pleaded with the German club to smooth his departure to Old Trafford.
Uli Höness, the Bayern general manager, said yesterday that selling Hargreaves “is not a subject for discussion” and “that means the issue is closed”, but United are determined to force the issue and, after the 25-year-old made clear his desire for the transfer to go through, they are confident that a deal will be finalised before the transfer window closes on August 31.
Sir Alex Ferguson is expected to drop his bid to sign Marcos Senna from Villarreal. It has been on hold for the past ten days while other options have been explored.
A deal is not yet certain, but United believe that Hargreaves’s comments in a German magazine yesterday gave the deal momentum. As well as calling United’s offer “simply fantastic”, Hargreaves said that he was contacted by Ferguson while on holiday after the World Cup finals and has discussed a move with Gary Neville and Rio Ferdinand, his England team-mates.
Bayern feel that Ferguson’s alleged call may constitute an illegal approach, but they are focusing their efforts on trying to resist United’s bid, rather than accusing the Barclays Premiership club of foul play.
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Relations between the clubs have been strained since United sold Ruud van Nistelrooy to Real Madrid, rather than Bayern, last month, with the German club so incensed by the United manager’s interest in Hargreaves that they refused to return calls from Manchester last week. It was unclear last night whether a formal bid had been made.
Hargreaves has made it clear since the World Cup that he would welcome a move to a top English club but now, to Bayern’s considerable surprise, he has all but demanded a move to United in an interview with Sport Bild magazine.
“The offer from Manchester United is fantastic,” he said. “To play for Manchester United is a great opportunity and I would be happy if I got that chance. You never know if such an opportunity will arise again. I have already spoken to Uli Höness and asked him to let me go. This would be a great deal for Bayern. I don’t understand why they wouldn’t be prepared to do this.”
Roman Grill, Hargreaves’s agent, declined to comment last night as he headed to Old Trafford to watch his client play in England’s win over Greece. It is understood that he, too, has been contacted by United in the past week.
GERMAN APPEAL
Owen Hargreaves wants to leave the Bundesliga for the Barclays Premiership but these figures suggest he is already in the more glamorous league
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Average attendances 2005-06: Bundesliga 40,775, Premiership 33,875
Annual domestic TV revenue: Bundesliga £285m (£902k a game), Premiership £376m (£989k a game)
Average goals a game 2005-06: Bundesliga 2.72, Premiership 2.48
Number of different champions over past ten seasons: Bundesliga 4, Premiership 3
European trophies won: Bundesliga 17, English league 28
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European player of the year awards: Bundesliga 9, English league 5