Sir Alex Ferguson was given the green light to sign Owen Hargreaves
yesterday when Franz Beckenbauer revealed that Bayern Munich were
prepared to sell the England midfielder for £15million.
In a further sign of imminent transfer activity at Old Trafford,
Southampton withdrew Gareth Bale from tomorrow's FA Cup tie at
Torquay in anticipation of an improved bid by Manchester United for
their 17-year-old wonder kid.
Bayern chiefs have maintained a defiant stance over Hargreaves
throughout a transfer saga that has been running for almost a year
and repeatedly told Ferguson to keep his distance. But the United
manager was on the verge of landing his main target of the January
window after the Bundesliga giants relented and conceded that
£15million would be too good to turn down.
Bayern were particularly incensed that United continued to pursue
Hargreaves after he signed a lucrative new contract, but they
finally accepted the inevitable when Beckenbauer made it clear they
were ready to do business. "If the offer that is being talked about
really is true, we will have to think about it," said Bayern's club
president.
"In principle, we were right to stick to our guns over Owen. If a
player has signed a new contract with us, then tries to move for
more money, we are within our rights to say 'no'. "But this is
different, and if we receive an offer on the scale that has been
mentioned, it is going to have to be given serious
consideration."
Hargreaves is nearing recovery from a broken leg and is ready to
fly to Manchester for a medical, at a moment's notice, after being
earmarked by Ferguson as the New Year addition needed to reinforce
his side's title push.
He could be followed into Old Trafford by Bale, who has attracted
strong interest from United, Tottenham and Arsenal after becoming
Wales' youngest-ever full international.
Though Southampton cited a hamstring strain as the official reason
for Bale missing the trip to Plainmoor, it is thought United do not
want him cup-tied after indicating a willingness to increase their
original £5million offer.
Southampton have tried to tempt their teenage full-back into
staying, with an improved £15,000-a-week package, but face a major
dilemma after he rejected the chance to sign an extended deal at St
Marys.
Bale is keen to stay with Southampton until the end of the season
before weighing up his options in the summer, however by that time
he will only have 12 months remaining on his current deal.
Promotion could convince the 17-year-old wonder-kid to put pen to
paper on the offer of £15,000-a-week until 2009. But it is risk the
Southampton board may be unwilling to take with United, Tottenham
and Arsenal all keen to sign him sooner rather than later.
And should the south coast club fail in their attempt to return to
The Premiership they risk losing their immensely talented full-back
for considerably less than the £5m plus add-ons they are currently
demanding - a situation compounded by the fact this is the their
final season of 'parachute payments' following relegation in
2005.
An Arsenal supporter as a youngster, the Emirates Stadium carries
the strongest pull for Bale, but United appear to be in pole
position after sensing their initial proposal of around £1.5million
up front, with further payments based on appearances, may not meet
with boardroom approval at St Mary's Stadium.
A meeting is planned at Southampton next Tuesday to discuss Bale's
future, and United seem certain to have tabled their follow-up
offer by then. Ferguson is also considering trying to extend Henrik
Larsson's Old Trafford stay, after initially signing him on loan
until the start of the new Swedish League season in March.
With Louis Saha out for a fortnight with a groin injury and Wayne
Rooney taking a breather, Larsson will make his United debut
alongside Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in Sunday's FA Cup third-round tie
at home to Aston Villa.
If he comes up to expectations, Ferguson will talk terms with the
former Celtic and Barcelona frontrunner, and his current club
Helsingborg, about keeping him until the end of the season.
