Owen Hargreaves was a surprise inclusion in yesterday’s starting line-up against Wolves. The midfielder hadn’t started a first team game for over two years after a long battle with tendonitis in both knees. Hargreaves’ last first team appearance had been at the end of last season had been as an 89th minute substitute against Sunderland in early May.

Hargreaves was one of England’s best players during the 2006 World Cup; at that point he was still playing for German side Bayern Munich. In the 2006–07 season, Hargreaves broke his leg, which kept him out of most of the season. Hargreaves played five games for Bayern, all in the Champions League; he also made five appearances for England.

Hargreaves was consistently being linked with a move to Manchester United for almost a year, it was finally announced that he would join and he did on the 1st July 2007. He made 34 appearances for United in his first season, scoring two goals. His second season with the club was hampered by injuries- he only played three games. Hargreaves flew out to America for specialist treatment and went under the knife a few times.

During the 2009/10 season Hargreaves played 45 minutes for the reserves and came on as a substitute against Sunderland. This season Hargreaves returned to training in late September, making his long awaited comeback against Wolves yesterday.

After the game Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed that Ryan Giggs had a bit of a tight hamstring and wasn’t risked. Paul Scholes was not fit enough and after training well and the doctor gave it the ok, so Hargreaves was named in the starting XI.

Unfortunately it was a disaster, five minutes in Hargreaves pulled up with a hamstring complaint and was unable to continue.

Speaking to Key 103, Sir Alex believes that lack of match fitness and anxiety may have been the problem.

“It is possibly because of a lack of match fitness,” Fergie said, “Maybe a bit of anxiety at playing his first game had a bit to do with it too.”

Hargreaves future at the club is in question again but the good news is that it isn’t a issue with his knees. These injuries are common after being out for a long time. He shouldn’t be out for too long, it’s whether he can get match fit and stay fit. It would be a massive shame for Hargreaves to have to retire due to injury, for him, United and England.

Team-mate John O’Shea is confident that he will return, after the win yesterday, he told MUTV:

“We feel so sorry for him, but he’ll be back again, no doubt about that. He’s worked very hard to get to this point and I’m sure there’ll be a few little niggles - he’s just got to get over them quickly."

Hargreaves is now in his final year of his contract with the club, if Hargreaves is unable to get fit and stay fit, the less likely it looks like he will be offered a new one.

In an exclusive interview with MUTV this morning, Man United manager Sir Alex Ferguson revealed that long term absentee Owen Hargreaves has returned to training.

Hargreaves joined Man United from Bayern Munich back in 2007, since joining he has only managed 38 appearances. 34 of those appearances were made in the 2007/2008 season.

The last time Hargreaves started a game for the first team was back in September 2008 in the 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Since then has has played some minutes for the reserves and made an 89th minute substitute appearance against Sunderland on the 2nd May 2010. Hargreaves has been suffering from tendinitis in both knees, having multiple operations.

Speaking to MUTV, Sir Alex said: "Owen Hargreaves has come back training, he trained yesterday with the first team. He looked very good. I was surprised actually how good he was looking.

"It's an extra string to our bow, bringing him in at this time. After being out for so long, we'll obviously have to monitor him and see how he's going to progress in the next few weeks. But it's good to see him back.

"Because he's been out for so long you have to see whether there's going to be a relapse. That's the first thing on our mind at the moment but having watched him in training yesterday if he continues that way he's going to give me another selection problem, no question about that."

Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves has yet another injury setback, which today has been confirmed by manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

United were hoping that the 29-year old could join the squad for the summer tour, that now won’t happen and instead he will be receiving more treatment on his persistent knee problems.

Hargreaves only managed to make one substitute appearance for the first team last season, after coming through 45 minutes for the reserves.

Sir Alex told MUTV: "The bad news is that Owen Hargreaves is back in America seeing a specialist.

"He will not be ready for the start of the season. I do not know when he will be back."

I'm gutted for Hargreaves, he is a descent player who United have missed at some points during last season but is it now time to say enough is enough. Bring in a new player, who can do the same job as Hargreaves but is not constantly out injured.

Owen Hargreaves made his comeback for Man United playing 45 minutes for United’s reserves against Burnley reserves last Thursday. Hargreaves has said that he still believes there is a chance he could get into Fabio Capello’s World Cup squad.

Man United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has said that Hargreaves must concentrate on Man United, not England or the World Cup.

"We deserve some service from out of him," said Ferguson.

"Talk about World Cups? He has been out for a year and a half.
"There is nothing wrong with talking about it but he should be concentrating on playing for Manchester United."

Sir Alex went on to say that Hargreaves will need a few more games with United’s reserves before he can make a first team comeback.

"I am delighted for him"

"He has been out of the game for 18 months, which is very difficult.
"He will need a couple of games more with the reserves.

"After that he should be back in the first-team squad. It is a good one to get at this time of the season."

No matter what happens with Hargreaves and England, it is fantastic to see him back, especially after such a long layoff. It’s not nice to see any footballer out of the game for so long, I’m just hoping he can stay fit from now on.

The last time Owen Hargreaves played for Man United was in the 2008/2009 season during the 1-1 draw against Chelsea on the 21st September 2009. Despite not playing since then, Hargreaves believes that he could play for England this summer during the World Cup.

Hargreaves is due to play for United’s reserves tonight in Altrincham against Burnley’s reserves.

Hargreaves told the Daily Telegraph: "The World Cup is an incentive. Absolutely. But I need to see progress now, pretty quick, for the World Cup to become even a realistic option.”

"Such an outcome would help soothe the memories of a torturous period for the Canada-born player. "I could never have imagined in my darkest dreams something like this would happen to me.”

"My athletic ability has taken me everywhere I wanted to go, from Canada to Germany, playing for England, playing for Man United. To have that temporarily taken away is humbling."

Hargreaves joined Man United in Juy 2007, since then he has had operations in both of his knees due to tendonitis. His first season at United went untroubled but his second was hampered by injuries. Hargreaves underwent surgery on his right knee on 10 November 2008, he underwent a similar operation on his left knee in January 2009.

Having the operation on his left knee meant that he was out for the remainder of the 2008/2009 season. There was speculation earlier on this year that Hargreaves could be named in Sir Alex Ferguson’s Champions League squad, due to a minor setback he was omitted from the squad.

He was pencilled in to play for United’s reserves against Manchester City’s reserves last Thursday, he was left out due to it interfering with his training schedule. Hargreaves should play tonight.

I would love to see Hargreaves come back and play for the first team but I think that the World Cup this summer could be too soon.

Sir Alex Ferguson revealed last week that Owen Hargreaves in pencilled in to play for United’s reserves against Manchester City tomorrow. Hargreaves is no longer pencilled in to play, due to training plans.

Has Hargreaves training dramatically changed since last week?

Man United have stressed that Hargreaves hasn’t suffered yet another injury setback, but he won’t play tomorrow.

It doesn’t make sense to me, if Hargreaves isn’t injured then he needs to get match fit. The only way he is going to get match fit is by playing games.

I suppose we will just have to wait and see what happens with Hargreaves. It’s just a shame it hear after United fans are eagerly awaiting his return.

There has been mixed injury news for Man United today, yet again. It was confirmed today that the hamstring injury Michael Owen picked up in the League Cup win against Aston Villa will keep him on the sidelines for the rest of the season.

The other news we had today was that Owen Hargreaves could return for Man United in a matter of days, which is superb news considering how long he has been out.

Since joining United in the summer Michael Owen has made 31 appearances for United, it may sound like a lot but 20 of those have been as a substitute.

Not only is it a shame that Owen has picked this injury up at a crucial stage of the season for Man United but he will now definitely be out of the World Cup squad, he may not have been high up on the list, but there was still a slight chance he could go.

"It's a bad blow for Michael and he's out for the season," Sir Alex Ferguson said "It was more serious than we thought and he'll have an operation on Monday. It’s a terrible blow for the lad and disappointing for us, too. He never missed a training session all season. The heavy pitch at Wembley played some part, but it’s also bad luck."

Owen has said: “I have loved every minute of my first campaign with Manchester United and have already enjoyed some memorable moments"
“I am determined to come back at the start of next season in peak condition.”


Hargreaves hasn’t played for Man United since September 2008 but as we lose one Owen for the rest of the season, another one could return.

Hargreaves could play for United’s reserve team against Manchester City’s reserves this Thursday.

"He has shown for the first time that he is almost ready to play again," Sir Alex said.

"He has been training with the first team, which has been good to see and is pencilled in for a game with the reserves on Thursday."

It would be great to see Hargreaves back again, it is probably too late for him to get into the England squad but just to see him playing again would be fantastic.

Both Owens are injury prone, hopefully we can get both of them back to full fitness and they can stay like that.

Long-term absentee Owen Hargreaves has been left out of Sir Alex Ferguson’s 25-man Champions League squad for the remainder of this season, which would probably suggest that he will also miss this summers World Cup.

Hargreaves has been suffering with a tendonitis problem ever since joining Man United in 2007. In November 2008 renowned knee surgeon, Richard Steadman, days later he was having surgery on his right knee. In January 2009, Hargreaves was having a similar procedure done on his left knee, leaving Hargreaves out for the rest of the season.


Initially 29-year old Hargreaves was set to be included in the squad but it has been revealed today that young defender Ritchie De Laet has been drafted in to replace the midfielder.

It was only last September that Hargreaves sounded confident of a return but surely this will be seen as a huge setback. Not only does it put a big question mark on his Man United career but also his England career with the World Cup coming up.

Hargreaves had said: “It will be an amazing feeling to run out at Old Trafford again. I’ll be so excited I’ll probably pass out”

“I just want to be part of it again, to be available and healthy. I can’t wait to get involved.

“I want to be able to pull on the shirt and have an effect on games. I just want to compete in matches, work with the coaches to improve my game and become a better player.

“I want a good season to repay the faith shown in me by the United fans.”

On the 21st November 2009, Man United manager Sir Alex Ferguson did say that the next stage of the recovery process for Hargreaves was ‘self belief’.

Sir Alex Ferguson had told the Manchester Evening News in November: “Owen is training very well. It is more of a confidence thing for the lad to come back into full training with us.”


“He is doing quite good work with the physios and football-related training but he is not a competitive level at the moment.”


“He has been out for a year and two months, so we are of the opinion that he should take his time and not rush it. In that respect, he needs to get his confidence back.”

Hargreaves is a highly rated midfielder, I am sure if he was fit Sir Alex would have included him and so would Fabio Capello for England. Lets just hope that he can make a full recovery; we don’t want to see him retiring.

We may have only just kicked off the start of the new Premier League season but Man United already have quite a few injury woes, mainly in defence.

Who Is Injured?

Officially, Man United have seven injured players but we could have eight.
Nemanja Vidic (calf strain)
Rio Ferdinand (thigh strain)
Edwin Van Der Sar (hand injury)
Gabriel Obertan (calf/shin injury)
Rafael da Silva (ankle/foot injury)
Owen Hargreaves (knee injury)
Gary Neville (groin strain)

During yesterday’s game against Birmingham Jonny Evans limped off with an injury, which now means he is a doubt for Wednesday’s game against Burnley.

The main problem is in central defence, our main two defenders are out (Ferdinand and Vidic) and it now looks like Evans is out injured. There are replacements, Wes Brown and John O’Shea can fill in but if one of them get injured, we have big problems.

I am just hoping that Evans isn’t too seriously injured and we can get either Ferdinand or Vidic back as soon as possible.

Man United midfielder Owen Hargreaves has been suffering from injuries ever since he joined Man United in 2007, he is now in Munich receiving treatment to try and save his career.

Since joining United, Hargreaves has only managed to make 25 appearances in which he scored two goals. Man United boss Sir Alex Ferguson had said that Hargreaves could be back this September (2009) but it is looking more and more likely that he won't return until Christmas.

Man United fans love Hargreaves and at some points last season, he was what we were really missing. If he doesn't manage to make a full recovery this season, I don't know if he will be at United for the following season.

It is such a shame that he is suffering from this injury, he is a fantastic player and he could be one of Man United's and England's main men.

Man United had expected Owen Hargreaves to be injury free for the start of the new Premier League season, and he was set to return to training whilst Man United are out in Munich for the Audi Cup.

Unfortunately Hargreaves has suffered a complication in his recovery which could see him out for half of the season. The Mirror says that this complication means that Hargreaves will stay out in America under the care of knee surgeon Dr. Richard Steadman. He was going to fly out to Munich to start training with his team-mates but that now isn't going to happen.

It is a massive shame, at some points last season we were missing a player like Hargreaves and I believe that if he suffers another injury before Christmas then that could spell the end of his Manchester United career.

Yaya Toure (brother of Arsenal's Kolo Toure) has recently signed a new contract with Barcelona but he could be on his way to Man United to replace Owen Hargreaves.

Since joining Man United only two seasons ago, Hargreaves has been hit for injury after injury. This has caused concerns at Old Trafford and the papers believe that Sir Alex Ferguson is now lining up a replacement.

Toure was one of the Barcelona players who beat us in the Champion's League final when he played as a make shift centre-back. The only doubts which I would have is that Toure might want to join his brother at Arsenal.

I think that he could be a great signing for Man United but I really can't see it happening. Saying that, I didn't think that Michael Owen would sign for us.

It looks like Manchester United midfielder might be forced to retire out of top flight football within two years. Owen Hargreaves has had operations to to cure tendinitis in both knees but he is still experiencing pain.

It looks like Sir Alex Ferguson may have grown tired of all of Owen Hargreaves injury woes so, he is going to find a replacement. It has been reported that Fergie is eying up Sporting Lisbon's Miguel Veloso to replace Hargreaves, but Arsene Wenger also wants him.

This isn't the first time that either club has been linked with the midfielder who is priced at £13 million. Manchester United already have former Sporting Lisbon players in Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Nani, that could possibly prove positive if we need to persuade Veloso.

Veloso is mainly a defensive midfield player but he can also play in central defence.
Veloso started his career at Benifica but at the age of 14 he moved to their rivals Sporting Lisbon. In the 2005-06 season he went on loan to Olivais Moscavide where he made 28 appearances, scoring seven goals.
Veloso has played 66 times for Sporting, scoring no goals. He has also played for his national team Portugal seven times, scoring no goals.