UNITED have confirmed that Owen Hargreaves will join the club 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.
What is your verdict on the deal? Have your say.
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Showing comments 1 to 25 and replies | View All
horace, Salford (31/05/2007 at 12:33)
Michio, County Louth (31/05/2007 at 12:45)
No, seriously, it's been a great start to the off-season with three major signings and I can't wait for next season to begin. I noticed that a lot of sites are still suggesting that Saha will be sold, I'm not sure about this as when he's fit he's a fantastic player. Maybe the next signing should be a top-class physio.
edinburgh red, edinburgh (31/05/2007 at 12:45)
SIMON., DERRY, N. IRELAND. (31/05/2007 at 12:48)
Hangey, Luxury Hill !! (31/05/2007 at 12:50)
NOW ONLY BERBATOV IS MISSING!
JonyB-), North Staffs (31/05/2007 at 12:52)
SukhothaiRed, Sukhothai Thailand (31/05/2007 at 12:59)
Shame I've gotta return to the UK when the Asian summer tour is on. Haven't seen United in the flesh for 5 years now.
george (31/05/2007 at 13:01)
Duggers - North Stand Lower, Basingstoke (31/05/2007 at 13:05)
All look great signings and hopefully with top striker to come.
Roll on next season!
One Love, Moss Side (31/05/2007 at 13:17)
Sterling, Salford (31/05/2007 at 13:27)
dboy, eire (31/05/2007 at 13:33)
Kevin, Tralee, Eire (31/05/2007 at 13:48)
Bradley (31/05/2007 at 14:01)
Birdy, Ireland (31/05/2007 at 14:19)
I dont know if Hargreaves will be good enough. I hope he is and think that he might just be. We certainly need that style of player
Reds4ever, Entrance N410 (31/05/2007 at 14:23)
bobbydazzler (31/05/2007 at 14:28)
red john (31/05/2007 at 14:35)
Alias Smith, over the moon (31/05/2007 at 14:42)
Mick, Dublin (31/05/2007 at 14:43)
Let's assume we line up 4-2-3-1, as we did against Roma:
Up front we have Smudger (who will be starting the season properly match-fit and looked the business for England B last week) or Saha (with Ole as a bonus, every now and then)
Playing the roaming roles, behind our front-man, we select 3 from Ronaldo, Rooney, Rossi, Giggs, Nani, Park and Anderson (not sure Scholes has the legs to play this role, hence we've seen him sitting deep a lot this season). That's 3 from 7, which allows Nani and/or Anderson a bit of leeway to acclimatise.
Anchoring midfield we have two from Carrick, Hargreaves, Scholes and Fletcher. We can base our selection on how much cover our back 4 will need (i.e. who we're playing). OH and Fletch would be more defensive options, Carrick or Scholes will offer more going forward.
Finally we're spoilt for choice at the back. We may or may not need an extra full-back, depending who leaves and whether or not Simpson will cut the mustard. But don't forget we'll have those two Brazilian twins, this time next year.
HOT DAMN, that is a pretty sweet squad, whichever way you look at it! And this will also be a genuinely young squad with a perfect blend of youth and experience. Fergie's done it again, the future's bright, the future's RED!
Mick, Dublin (31/05/2007 at 14:46)
COLIN, CANADA, Canada (31/05/2007 at 15:00)
Lee , Heywood, Heywood (31/05/2007 at 15:55)
SukhothaiRed, Sukhothai Thailand (31/05/2007 at 16:00)
Still, Mr Tevez would be welcome as Wazza could do with a rest every now and then.
I'm sorry to be an apogist to the owners, but season ticket price hikes have been a way to pay for new players for donkeys years. I can remember my Grandad hiking me on his shoulders to watch Dennis the Menace when he first arrived from Turin (Sorry I'm 50) and telling me it was the fans who were paying. Football is a commercial enterprise at the top level. Get used to it... Fans in the UK are lucky that they can see United live at all.
I was born in Manchester, and I would quite happily sacrifice 600 quid a year for a season ticket if I could get to OT and watch the games on a regular basis.
So, Mick, are the anti SAF brigade doing to put their heads above the parapet this summer?
Macca, Cornwall (31/05/2007 at 16:05)
Absolutely delighted, wouldnt be suprised if we didnt get a striker remembering rossi will be back and ronaldo can be pushed further forward. However, i do expect to see a few outgoing players now to make the balance sheet look a bit more attractive for Uncle Malc's viewing.
The most we have spent since Ruud and Seba signed - people will be saying we buy the title next!!