Owen Hargreaves set to be left out of Manchester United's Euro squad - 7M sport

Owen Hargreaves set to be left out of Manchester United's Euro squad



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Posted Friday, January 21, 2011 by theguardian.com

Owen Hargreaves set to be left out of Manchester United's Euro squad
Owen Hargreaves has started only 26 games for Manchester United since joining the club in May 2007.

Owen Hargreaves is facing the prospect of being left out of Manchester United's squad for the Champions League's knockout stages amid growing concerns about the midfielder's future at Old Trafford.

Sir Alex Ferguson is having to weigh up whether he can afford to risk including a player who has managed only six minutes of first-team football in the past 28 months and the early indications from Old Trafford are that he has lost faith in the former England international.

The 25-man squad has to be submitted to Uefa by 1 February and if the luckless Hargreaves is omitted it will only increase the sense that a player who turned 30 today is unlikely to be offered a new contract to replace his present deal, which expires in June.

One option is for a pay-as-you-play proposal but even that cannot be guaranteed given Hargreaves's history of injuries since joining United from Bayern Munich in May 2007. The midfielder has made 26 starts but there have been only two brief appearances since the pain of tendinitis in both knees became too much and he was removed from the squad in September 2008 to begin the process of recovery that has involved two major operations.

His first comeback was as a substitute in the final minute of a league match at Sunderland in May last year but Hargreaves then suffered a six-month setback and when he was finally declared fit again, a surprise inclusion against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Old Trafford in November, he lasted five minutes before he was forced off with a hamstring injury. Ferguson described it at the time as a "disaster".

The initial diagnosis was a six-week layoff but, 10 weeks on, Hargreaves is still receiving treatment and has been restricted to light training. The hope is that he will be able to join the rest of Ferguson's squad by the end of next week but it remains to be seen whether that will be enough to convince United's manager to make him available for the club's European ties, starting with the first leg of their match with Marseille on 23 February.

Hargreaves was omitted from the squad for the group stages and bringing him in now would mean leaving out another player. The only option appears to be Gary Neville, the former England international who has made only three starts all season and is almost certain to retire at the end of the season, with a testimonial match planned for the summer. Ferguson would not discuss Hargreaves's contract when he was asked last week but the club's hierarchy is known to have reservations about continuing to pay the player's £4m-a-year wages after what is threatening to become one of the more wasteful transfers at Old Trafford in modern times.

Rafael da Silva, the United full-back, will discover his punishment from the Football Association tomorrow after admitting a charge of improper conduct because of his reaction to being sent off in Sunday's 0-0 draw at Tottenham Hotspur.

With John O'Shea having played only 45 minutes of a reserve game as he recovers from injury, Wes Brown is likely to replace the suspended Rafael in Saturday's game at home to Birmingham City. United have fielded several inquiries about Brown in the transfer window but Ferguson said: "He won't be going on loan to anyone. Obviously Wes would like more first-team football but my two centre-backs have been fantastic and Rafael has done so well at right-back. It's unfortunate because Wes is such a good defender but I certainly won't be letting him go."



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