Owen Hargreaves move to Man City reviewed

How a World Cup changes the perception of a player. Before the 2010 World Cup, Owen Hargreaves was disliked by fans, mainly due to the fact he was seen as an unneeded player and is lack of Englishness, having been born in Canada and never played in the English Premier League.  However, Hargreaves was probably the highlight of the 2006 World Cup for England with his energy and ability, causing Portugal especially, a lot of trouble. A move to Manchester United for £17 million pounds from Bayern Munich was thought by many to be the making of the central midfielder and a strong first season, in which he scored twice in 34 games in all competitions proved to be his only season as a Man United regular. However, that proved to be the highlight of his United career as the next 3 seasons saw only 5 games, in which he was blighted by injuries, mainly tendonitis.

 

The 22^nd May 2011 was what was thought by many people to be the end of Hargreaves’ career as this was the day Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed that after 4 years of service to the club and the physio room, the Canadian born midfielder would be released by the club. This prompted many rumours that Hargreaves would then retire after this setback.

 

In an attempt to show clubs a reason why to sign him, he tried to show his fitness via the much talked about YouTube videos. Despite the wackiness of his idea in order to show clubs his fitness, these videos prompted a bunch of rumours, linking him Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur & West Bromwich Albion, with the latter expected by many to have been near to be securing a deal for him. What happens next though is something that no-one would have ever predicted. This was a move to his old club Manchester United’s rivals, Manchester City.

 

When the rumours first came up, the majority of footy fans thought this was a prank. This was summed up by Man City goalkeeper Joe Hart’s reaction to the news by saying ‘Wowzers! Where did that come from?!’ However, Man City defender Joleon Lescott said that he would welcome the move of the former England player of the year, while his ex Manchester United teammate Wayne Rooney backed the move to his clubs rivals, but doubted that this was the place to get his fitness back.

 

In a City central midfield featuring Gareth Barry, Yaya Toure & Nigel De Jong, it is quite easy to tell that Hargreaves has been signed as an extra backup for the trio and should expect his first regular bout of first team football in January when Yaya Toure leaves for the African Cup of Nations. If he can prove his fitness, he can be one of the signing of the seasons. However, a bad season or yet another season blighted by injuries could be seen by City fans as a dreadful signings & Mancini would get a lot of stick for signing a former Red Devil.

 

If I was Hargreaves, I wouldn’t have joined Manchester City. This is not because they are the rivals of his former club but the fact that a lack of playing time could prove bad to his fitness. He should have instead joined someone like Stoke, Wolves or West Brom where even though he wouldn’t be playing in a team of as high a calibre as he is used to, this would be ideal for him to get his fitness back to his best & then think about a move further up the table. However, only time will tell how Hargreaves will cope & the much renowned American knee specialist Richard Steadman had stated that he could withstand the impact of jumping off the Eiffel Tower. If he struggles though, his fall from grace could be even bigger.

 

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