English Premier League: Owen Hargreaves set to make a comeback for Manchester United
Manchester United’s long time injury casualty, Owen Hargreaves is on his comeback trail for Sir Alex Ferguson’s men. Owen Hargreaves was bought by Manchester United in the summer transfer window of 2008, after a long and frustrating
transfer saga; Bayern Munich eventually agreed to sell their defensive enforcer for around about seventeen and a half million pounds to the English giants.
In his first season at Manchester United, Hargreaves made his debut for the Red Devils in August of 2008 against Peterborough United, a match that United won by three goals to one. In the rest of the English Premier League season,
Hargreaves went onto play a vital role as Manchester United retained their English Premier League crown which they had won in 2006-2007 season.
His most vital goal for Manchester United came against their title rivals and contenders, Arsenal. The goal which was scored from a free kick gave Man Utd the win which proved to be an important one in the course of their title
defence. Most importantly though, Hargreaves put in some incredible displays for Manchester United during their European Cup run, in the UEFA Champions League for the 2007-2008 season, Sir Alex Ferguson’s team faced Barcelona in the semi-finals.
Ferguson deployed Hargreaves as a right back for the away tie at Nou Camp, a match that ended in a goalless draw. However, in the return leg, Manchester United along with Owen Hargreaves progressed to the final match of the tournament
after defeating the Catalonian giants by a single goal.
Hargreaves played for Manchester United in the pen-ultimate match of the UEFA Champions League, this time the English national team midfielder’s versatility proved to be a key factor for United as they used him as a right midfielder
rather than a defensive midfielder to cater for Ashley Cole’s run down the left hand side of the London club’s attack.
In his first season at Manchester United, Owen Hargreaves won the English Premier League and the UEFA Champions League but he was used sparingly by the club’s manager due to Hargreaves’s tendinitis problem. His second at Manchester
United was plagued by injury as tendinitis took toll on his career.
After just making three appearances for the English giants in the 2008-2009 season, Hargreaves opted to have knee surgery to solve his injury troubles. Ever since then, the English national has been on his way back as he has being
going through an extended rehabilitation process.
Recently, Hargreaves’s doctor, Steadman told media that the midfielder is very close to playing fitness levels. He said that it is up to Manchester United to decide when and where he plays for them. Steadman added that, following
the surgery, Owen needed a lot of rest to reach the correct recovery levels. The Canadian doctor went onto say that; Hargreaves spent a lot of his time in Colorado so that his condition improves.
Hargreaves’s club has had a mixed start to the season as United have drawn their last two matches away from home to Fulham F.C and Everton.
In both the matches, United gave up a comfortable to lead to lose two points on each occasion. Hargreaves will give Sir Alex Ferguson more options in the midfield area especially after Antonio Valencia was ruled out till February
after the Ecuadorian winger broke his ankle while playing against Rangers in the UEFA Champions League.
Manchester United take on Liverpool in their next English Premier League match, Ferguson will be looking to get another win over United’s long term rivals as they visit Old Trafford.
It will be interesting to see if Sir Alex pushes Owen Hargreaves into the Manchester United first team sooner rather than later. It remains to be seen what the Scottish national decides as Hargreaves is expected to return to England
sometime at the end of September.
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