MANCHESTER United’s hopes of signing Owen Hargreaves suffered a serious setback yesterday with a robust “hands-off” warning from Bayern Munich, but Sir Alex Ferguson and his board remain confident that the England midfield player will arrive at Old Trafford next week in a £17 million deal.
In a statement on their official website, Bayern claimed to have “unequivocally” informed United that Hargreaves is not for sale, adding that the England midfield player must see out the remaining four years of his contract. The German club also said that there will be “no future talks” on the matter, but, despite an apparent breakdown in direct communication between the clubs, United continued to investigate the matter yesterday through a third party.
Nor, it emerged last night from within Old Trafford, has Ferguson given up on signing a centre forward before the transfer window closes on August 31. Fernando Torres, of Atlético Madrid, remains a target, although many obstacles will have to be overcome for that deal to take place.
Hargreaves, at least, is within United’s sights and, contrary to Bayern’s statement, a meeting had been planned between officials from the clubs in Munich on Sunday. It is uncertain whether that meeting will take place, but, having been encouraged to believe on Thursday that an agreement was close on a £17 million fee, United believe that the deal has developed an almost unstoppable momentum, with Hargreaves having made clear his desire to move to Manchester.
Bayern’s statement yesterday was echoed by strong words from Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, the chairman, and Uli Hönness, the general manager. “We are not even prepared to talk to any other club about releasing Hargreaves early from his contract,” Rummenigge said. Hönness said that “you can offer €50 million (about £34 million) for Owen Hargreaves but we will not let him go”.
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Ferguson, whose team take on Fulham at Old Trafford in their opening Barclays Premiership match tomorrow lunchtime, had sounded cautiously optimistic about his chances of signing the 25-year-old. “We have been trying to negotiate with Bayern Munich for a while now and the boy has said he would like to join United and we’d like to have him here,” the manager said.“It is in [chief executive] David Gill’s capable hands. We are dealing with a big club in Bayern Munich, but hopefully we can get something done.”
Ferguson, having shown no more than passing interest in Hargreaves in the past, said that he had been attracted by the player’s newfound “maturity” over the past 12 months, when he has emerged as a fundamental player for England as well as Bayern. For now, though, with Michael Carrick injured and Tomasz Kuszczak merely a reserve goalkeeper, United will take on Fulham without any new faces in their starting line-up.
It is a situation that is troubling many supporters — particularly given the sale of Ruud van Nistelrooy to Real Madrid — but apparently not Ferguson. “I would have liked to have got a striker in, but there’s no one out there,” the manager said.
The one contender is Torres, the subject of a firm inquiry three weeks ago, but completing that transfer seems improbable before the transfer window closes.
Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes will serve a three-game suspension after tomorrow’s game, a situation that has angered United after the FA rejected appeals against their red cards in the LG Amsterdam Tournament. “I’m not so much disappointed as surprised,” Ferguson said. “The FA told us nothing was going to happen to Wayne. I do not know what has happened in between them telling us that and reaching the decision.”