Owen Hargreaves has suffered a major setback in his battle to
overcome career-threatening knee trouble after Manchester United
manager Sir Alex Ferguson revealed the England midfielder will miss
the start of the season.
Instead of joining the club's pre-season tour of America,
Hargreaves has flown to Colorado to see Dr Richard Steadman, the
specialist who performed the surgery to cure chronic tendonitis in
both knees.
Rare sight: Owen Hargreaves in action for
United
Ferguson said: 'The bad news is that Owen Hargreaves is back in
America seeing the specialist. He won't be ready for the start of
the season. I don't know when he'll be back.'
Hargreaves' only first-team action since September 2008 was a
brief appearance off the bench as an injury-time substitute at
Sunderland in the penultimate game of last season, and Ferguson is
believed to have talked Fabio Capello out of including the player
in his World Cup squad.
Sorry sight: Michael Owen pulls up with a hamstring
injury
The United boss also confirmed that striker Michael Owen is
unlikely to go on tour as he recovers from hamstring surgery, and
expressed doubt that Rio Ferdinand will be fit for the first game
against Newcastle.