Owen Hargreaves will join Manchester United on July 1. The
Old Trafford club have confirmed a deal has been completed with
Bayern Munich for the England international and with personal terms
agreed and a medical passed, all that is required now is for the
25-year-old to officially sign what is expected to be a five-year
contract.
Hargreaves will do that when he returns from a family holiday in
his native Canada at the end of next month, with the move formally
taking effect on July 1. "Manchester United is delighted to
announce that it has agreed terms with Bayern Munich for the
transfer of Owen Hargreaves," said the statement.
"The player has also agreed terms with the club and passed his
medical. "Owen will formally sign his contract with Manchester
United when he returns from his holiday at the end of June and will
join on July 1, 2007." The announcement ends a year-long pursuit of
the Calgary-born star by Sir Alex Ferguson and comes less than 24
hours after United revealed they had agreed transfers in principle
for Anderson and Nani from Porto and Sporting Lisbon
respectively.
Ferguson made a concerted effort to bring Hargreaves to Old
Trafford after the World Cup, in which the midfielder turned out to
be one of England's few success stories. Hargreaves left no-one in
any doubt he wanted to make the move, only for Bayern to block the
deal fearing supporter unrest after losing Michael Ballack to
Chelsea.
Ferguson was hopeful of resurrecting the deal in January but those
plans were scuppered when Hargreaves - who has family which hails
from Bolton - broke his leg on club duty against Arminia Bielefeld
in September. However, there was little doubt the United boss was
determined to push the transfer through once the season was over
and Bayern's failure to qualify for next year's Champions League
only made it more certain Hargreaves would end up at Old
Trafford.
Although no fee has been mentioned, it is thought to be around the
£17million mark. With the sums initially paid out for Anderson and
Nani taken into account, Ferguson has already spent £40million,
with more to come as he continues the search for a central
striker.
OWEN HARGREAVES FACTFILE
1981: Born, January 20 in Calgary, Canada.
1994: Signs for Calgary Foothills FC.
1997: Signs for Bayern Munich.
2000: Makes debut for England Under-21s under Howard Wilkinson, a
6-1 defeat of Georgia.
2001: Part of the Bayern team which wins a Bundesliga and Champions
League double as well as the World Club Championship.
August - Awarded first England cap under Sven-Goran Eriksson when
he starts the 2-0 defeat to Holland at White Hart Lane.
2002: Included in the England squad for the 2002 World Cup but a
collision with Michael Owen after 15 minutes against Argentina
rules him out for the rest of the tournament.
2003: Wins second Bundesliga and the DFB Pokal, the German FA
Cup.
2004: Included in the England squad which reaches the
quarter-finals of Euro 2004. Hargreaves makes three substitute
appearances, twice for Paul Scholes and once for Steven
Gerrard.
2005: Wins third Bundesliga and second DFB Pokal.
October - Signs four-year contract extension with Bayern.
2006: Included in the squad for the World Cup to much derision but
is voted England's player of the tournament by fans as an
under-performing team reach the quarter-finals.
August - Admits he is interested in a move to Manchester
United.
September - Breaks left leg in Bundesliga match against Arminia
Bielefeld.
2007: April - Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer admits Hargreaves
will leave the club for the right bid.
May 31 - United announce Hargreaves will join the club on July
1.
