Reds chief executive has revealed that United have not given up
hope of signing Owen Hargreaves, should Bayern Munich's willingness
to sell the midfielder change.
It was made clear that the club were looking for two midfielders
over the summer. With Michael Carrick arriving for an initial
£14million from Spurs, the Reds locked sights on Bayern's England
international Hargreaves. The Reds were openly courting the
Canadian-born player's services and did table a bid, but Bayern
refused to enter into negotiations.
"Bayern are very keen to keep Owen Hargreaves, and we have to
respect them for that. If that situation doesn't change we won't
acquire him," Gill told BBC Five Live's Sportsweek. "But Bayern
have intimated to me that, if the situation should change, they
will contact me. If it did then we would see if we could consumate
a deal as Owen went on record as saying he wanted to be a United
player."
Many fans were frustrated that a second midfielder was not added to
the squad, accentuated by the fact that Javier Mascherano, the
highly-rated Argentina international who has long been linked with
United, joined West Ham on transfer deadline day.
However, Gill says the Reds turned down the opportunity to sign
Mascherano. He admitted the Reds had watched the 22-year-old
defensive midfielder last season, but that Sir Alex had decided
against a move for the former Corinthians youngster.
West Ham pulled off the shock signings of the summer when they
landed Mascherano and striker Carlos Tevez for undisclosed fees. It
was thought both players were destined for Europe's top clubs.
United were also linked with a move for Tevez, but Gill was adamant
the player was not in Sir Alex's plans.
"We were never interested in Tevez," he said. "We were also offered
Mascherano. He is clearly a good player, but the experts in the
football side of the club decided that we didn't want to go for
him. We understand the frustration of fans who feel we should have
been more active, but we're very conscious that the quality of our
squad is already very high and that any player we bring in should
add to that quality."
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