PLAYER PROFILE

Owen Hargreaves

Position: Midfield

Height: 5'11

Weight: 11st 7lbs

Date of Birth: 1981-01-20 Calgary, Canada

Owen Hargreaves

Manchester United conducted a long and public pursuit of Owen Hargreaves, their patience paying off late May 2007 when they agreed a deal to sign him from around £17m from Bayern Munich. The size of the deal represents not just Hargreaves’ international experience and time in the Bundesliga, but also the high regard he is held in by Sir Alex Ferguson.

Since he made the English national team under Sven Goran Eriksson Hargreaves has divided opinion in his adopted country. Eriksson picked a player he recognised as an astute, mobile and versatile footballer with a superb level of physical fitness. Hargreaves’ critics in England saw him as a one-dimensional and largely ineffectual player whose record of 39 caps was entirely testament to Eriksson’s favouritism.

The debate over Hargreaves went on in England largely because he was based in the Bundesliga and few people saw him play for Bayern Munich. With his move to Manchester United the Canadian-born midfielder will be under the microscope right from the off, but it is clearly a pressure he relishes. During six years in the Bayern Munich first team the 26-year-old became a integral player and it is notable that in his last season at the club as Bayern disappointed finishing in 4th place in the Bundesliga, Hargreaves managed just 9 games due to broken leg.

How he will fit into United’s midfield alongside Michael Carrick (a player with clear similarities to Hargreaves) remains to be seen but his first season at Old Trafford will be closely watched.