English Premier League: Hargreaves Suffers Injury Set Back Yet Again
It will be easy in hindsight to say that Owen Hargreaves was dearly missed by the English national team in their World Cup adventures in South Africa. Hargreaves, who is a Canadian born-English national has had his football career in recent years plagued by injury
In 2006-2007 season, when Hargreaves was at Bayern Munich, he broke his leg and failed to register consistent appearances for the German club side. He did recover for their champions league match against Real Madrid, which they won 3-2.
Manchester United bought Owen Hargreaves from Bayern Munich for an estimated transfer fee of around 18 million pounds. Hargreaves was greeted quite cheerfully by the United faithful, as the squad was in desperate need of a good defensive midfielder. In his first league season with United, Hargreaves ended up as a consistent performer as Manchester United won the league and the Champions league titles.
His second season for United was weighed down with injuries; he constantly suffered with Patellar Tendinitis which caused him immense pain in his knees. Hargreaves had his first operation on his knees in November 2008; the operation was undertaken by an American doctor Richard Steadman.
In January of 2009, he received a similar operation on his left knee. These operations meant that Hargreaves would spend the rest of the season in recovery mode and will not be able to play any football whatsoever. Hargreaves returned from his rehabilitation period in the U.S.A on 23rd of September 2009. Upon discussion it was decided by the Manchester United medical staff that his rehabilitation will be further extended and it will be carried out as planned by the Manchester United staff.
During the 2009-2010 seasons, Hargreaves continued his rehab regime and only featured once as a substitute for Manchester United. This led to Hargreaves omission from the 23-man English national team squad which was scheduled to feature in the World Cup for England.
Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed in his latest interview to Manchester United TV that Hargreaves has suffered yet another injury blow to his knees. He said that the bad news is that Hargreaves is in America once again because of his knee troubles and is scheduled to see a specialist.
He stated clearly that the English midfielder will not be available for the start of the season and also added that the manager himself does not know when the player will be back. The Manchester United manager also added that Rio Ferdinand will be not be fit for the start of the upcoming season for United.
The news might be a blessing in disguise for Sir Alex, as he has enough time on his hands now to delve into the transfer market and reinforce his midfield. With Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs only limited to part time roles because of their old age, United’s manager will be looking to bring in some new blood to challenge the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City for silverware in the coming season.
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