Hargreaves has not played for United since September 2008, when he finally decided to undergo revolutionary knee surgery in America to try to cure a chronic tendinitis problem that dates back to his time at Bayern Munich.
The 29-year-old eventually returned to United's Carrington training base 12 months later after undergoing an extensive rehabilitation programme under the guidance of world renowned knee specialist Dr Richard Steadman.
At the time, it was thought Hargreaves would be back in action by November to help United's quest for honours and push for a place in Fabio Capello's England World Cup squad.
But that deadline was missed and so have others Ferguson subsequently put in place.
Knowing there was no chance of Hargreaves being fit for the Champions League knock-out round clash with AC Milan later this month, Ferguson opted to leave the player out of his 25-man squad, which had to be submitted to UEFA by the end of last month.
Yet Ferguson insists the bad news need not necessarily prove terminal and that Hargreaves could still play a major role this season.
Hargreaves recovery
"Owen's recovery is slow," admitted Ferguson.
"It is a year and a half now and I can't put a time on it.
"But he will be back. He could come back and make an impact on the league for us. Hopefully he does.
"There are more games in the league than there are in the European Cup and I don't need to register him for the league."
Given what has happened over the past 18 months, it seems wildly optimistic to be talking of Hargreaves in the context of a Champions League final.
But Ferguson was gambling against the more immediate priority of a duel with old boy David Beckham in the San Siro on February 16 when he eventually decided young defender Ritchie de Laet was the wisest choice among the players who will now shape United's European destiny.
"It would be nice to think we could get to the European Cup final and have Owen Hargreaves available," said Ferguson.
"But we are not there. We have AC Milan in 10 days' time and we need to win that game.
"If I was choosing Owen I would have had to leave another important player out because he will not be available for the AC Milan game. That important player might be the one I need.
"I had to choose and it was a hard decision. But it is the correct decision."
Do you agree? Have your say.
Tweet
Showing comments 1 to 21 and replies | View All
hector grengros, luhg (05/02/2010 at 11:45)
ill believe that when i see it!
Monkey tennis?, yes please (05/02/2010 at 11:56)
david allen (05/02/2010 at 12:00)
Tommy Blue, Whalley Range (05/02/2010 at 13:05)
Red Army (05/02/2010 at 13:26)
Al (05/02/2010 at 13:35)
Sparky, Salford (05/02/2010 at 13:36)
David Allen - very harsh as they were all useless that day. De Laet is a good talent IMO
bobbydazzler (05/02/2010 at 13:55)
he would be keeping good company with
boijinov/robinhio/jo/garrido/corluka etc etc etc.
ENGINEER, Heywood (05/02/2010 at 14:37)
Veron was a brilliant player he just happened to come to OT when we still had Keane, Sholes, Butt, Beckam and Giggs who played week in week out so was never allowed to have a consistant run in the team.
As For Owen i still believe we will be lucky to see him in a united shirt, I woould love it to happen as I think he it the player we have missed, his commitment, drive and desire are second to none, also England miss him and he is ten times the player Barry will ever be.
Django, Hampshire (05/02/2010 at 14:51)
The sequence of events is too painful for words.
1) A couple of good games at the 2006 World Cup persuades SAF he is just what he now needs, even though he completely overlooked him only months previously when he could have been bought cheaply with his contract nearly up.
2)The purchase of Marcus Senna was then abandoned with negotiations advanced because of the snap decision to go for Hargreaves instead.
3) Bayern then play hard ball with the newly re-contracted OH, insists he is not for sale and makes Fergie wait a year.
4) Determined to get him in the end, SAF pays an inflated fee, despite no interest from other clubs. With OH's creaky knees another year older, he somehow gets through a medical. ( a book should be written one day on this subject alone )
5) His injury problems surface again straight away and he is in and out of the treatment room throughout season 07/08. ( He does though score a vital penalty in Moscow )
6)The medical miracle worker ( and self publicist ) Dr Steadman then confidently says he can rebuild him. After many months and a fortune of treatment, he is returned to us in the confident hope he would be ready for the '09/10 season.
7) The rest is recent history.
For the future, there just remains the formality of OH exercising his one further year option on his contract this summer, to guarantee about another £3.5m in wages, while he does a bit more light training and plans his retirement for 2011.
SAF is a brilliant and successful man, but he got badly caught out here with a piece of business that makes even the Louis Saha purchase look like a good deal by comparison.
chris, oxford (05/02/2010 at 15:53)
tooth&claw, manchester (05/02/2010 at 15:53)
Tendonitis also doesn't favour certain days of the week, whereas it would invariably strike Hargreaves after training on Friday and he'd cry off for the weekend game. The problem with Hargreaves is mental, as people have said for a long time and which SAF himself has alluded to.
If he gets his head together he may play again. Sadly, I don't think he will. I think he's been 'feeling' the injury so long now that it will only be cured when he signs for a lesser club. At which time a miracle cure will ensue.
jordy, Middleton (05/02/2010 at 15:55)
Django, Hampshire (05/02/2010 at 16:48)
No supporters have seen the medical reports you mention and it is pure speculation about what advice was given. I hope we didn't give too much credence though to what Bayern told us on the subject. Their views would have been the equivalent of Del Boy recommending some North Korean Plasma Screens that he had just got hold of!
The OH situation has been a sorry mess whichever way you look at it and the hope has to be that hard lessons have been learned.
Stuart Webb, Southend On Sea (05/02/2010 at 17:16)
Personally I love Hargreaves' style and will be sad to see him go but agree with other posters that the club has been had on this transfer.
charbel (05/02/2010 at 17:49)
DUB RED, CLONDALKIN (05/02/2010 at 17:57)
bobbyc, Manchester (05/02/2010 at 19:08)
McManaman ,Fowler,etc etc , the list is endless ,and the cupboard is still bare.
Cantona's Collar, West Lancs (05/02/2010 at 20:02)
Let's not forget Britain's most expensive misfit ! Robiniho @ 32.8 million
cos you won't see him again @ Wastelands !!
ribery's ankle, Amsterdam (16/02/2010 at 18:53)
Ruud did go on to prove HE wasn't, however different injury problem same specialist!!
Anyhow, I hope not!
Get the tissues out..., COLLYHURST (17/02/2010 at 12:56)