Following the World Cup 2006, the view of Owen Hargreaves in England shifted, much to the annoyance of Sir Alex Ferguson. He had been trying to land Hargreaves for some time and new that his impressive performances on the biggest football stage was only going to make Bayern Munich less reluctant to sell him and push the transfer fee up.

His club fought long and hard for him although finally settled for a £17m transfer fee, which meant Owen got to join the only team he wanted to play for.

“At first they didn’t want to sell me, but I made it clear, my intentions, and I’m glad they accepted this summer and it went through with the transfer I asked them to do,” Hargreaves said upon signing for us. “United have, such a fabulous history of players. To be part of this kind of club is a dream come true.”

Sadly, Hargreaves’ United career has been plagued with injuries, which have resulted in having operations on both of his knees. Ferguson recently revealed that he would be back in September, much to the delight of our fans.

Understandably, the German press were hoping they would get to see Hargreaves back in the Allianz, but Fergie had to let them down at the press conference in Munich today.

“He won’t be playing,” Ferguson said. “He’s still in America, actually. We were hoping he’d join us here but he’s still undergoing his rehabilitation. Remember, it was a major operation in both knees. He’ll come back once he’s fully fit but we won’t be rushing him.”