With all the wait and the hype (some contrived, some real and the rest pointless), Owen Hargreaves’ eventual move to Manchester United could be a damp squid.
Hargreaves, while the right man for Manchester United’s midfiled, will take time to settle in and will invariably attract criticism for his high price tag and the lack of superhuman performances. If any evidence of this is required, Manchester United fans and football pundits everywhere need only to look at Michael Carrick, the man Hargreaves is keeping out of the current England setup.
Carrick’s move cost United 14m (going up to 18m), and while Ferguson and David Gill will tell you that he’s worth at least 20m (he is, if you consider that he’s been one of our top five players this season AND will be a central figure for us for the next five years), fans might disagree.
Bah, what do we know?
The headline – yes, the headline.
Franz Beckenbauer (Bayern Munich president), while speaking on German television, said that a big offer (17m to 20m) for Hargreaves would be difficult to ignore.
Beckenbauer:
“If it is right there is an offer of 25-30m euros (£17-20m), then I would seriously consider it.
I think the board also think this way to satisfy the needs of the player.”
Bayern have timed it to perfection – it’s mid April, their title aspirations are almost dead, they can’t keep playing Hargreaves if he wants to leave and they wanted an exit strategy that would allow them to save face. Making the transfer about the money (where a few months ago Bayern’s ego took precedence), they are trying to sidestep any fan criticism for selling one of Bayern’s top players.
Whatever the case, Hargreaves looks set to be Manchester United’s main transfer capture of the summer. Add a Bale and a Nani to the mix, sell a couple of players and this team is good to go without a new striker coming in.
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