Hargreaves. It’s On! …
Has a way now been found for Bayern to sell Owen Hargreaves to United this winter?
The Bavarians have insisted since the summer that the England midfielder, now recovering from a broken leg, is not for sale. Bayern boss Karl Heinze Rummenigge, was particlarly forthright. Speaking about Hargreaves last August, he said: “He is free to swap sides - but not before July 1, 2010. This is the last word. If I say this, then that is what it is going to be. He can swap sides on July 1, 2010 - no sooner.”
Now, the line from Munich is less clear. “We thought about what to do if we got a good offer but only the finance minister would be happy,” said Rummenigge. “Even if we got 30m euros we can only get the tax back on contracts, so we will not sell Hargreaves.
“Thirty million euros over four years is 7.5m euros each year and that means we have 22.5m euros the first year and we have to pay tax on that. So Hargreaves will not be going.”
This is hardly the blood and thunder, no surrender bluster of the summer. Stevie Wonder in a darkened room could see in Rummenigge’s words, a possible solution to the impasse. If United’s offer is big enough and the club’s financial brains can find a way around the German tax system, the player could be running out at Old Trafford by January’s end.
That’s certainly the player’s objective. He said: “The most important thing for me is to get healthy. I just want to focus all my energy on rehab and getting fit. If I play in the same way as before my injury happened I think everything will take care of itself but obviously Manchester is a wonderful team. They have a great potential with so many talented players. They started very well in the Premier League and they’ve done very well in the Champions’ League so they are a team every player would love to play for, especially with me playing for England and my family being from England.”
Bayern have been cute in talking up the financial aspects of the sale now, a month before the transfer window opens officially and of course, in establishing 30 million Euros as the benchmark negotiating figure. If United genuinely want the player and Sir Alex’s public comments earlier this month before the Copenhagen game confirm that he does, then £20 million, a Chelski sum indeed, is the price demanded.
The transfer price tag is one of several important factors likely to influence United’s position. Hargreaves, if he recovers his form after his leg-break, would certainly give fresh momentum to United’s title charge, although as an ineligible player, he would be nothing but a cheer-leader in United’s Champions League campaign.
Significantly, the deal would represent the first major public relations triumph United have scored under Glazer. The £18 m Michael Carrick transfer, the sixth largest in United’s history, provoked more condemnation than congratulation. After a string of disasters, many of which were self-inflicted, the signing of Bayern’s defensive midfielder would give the new regime a useful platform from which to counter those who would argue that it is bleeding the club of its resources.
In just a few weeks, United will have to show their hand. Incredibly, the value of the player has trebled in 18 months, at a time when the club is no longer the spendthrift of old. United will have to dig very deep or off-load a squad player or two, if they wish to sign Hargreaves, putting at risk perhaps the purchase of the top striker that must be on the agenda for next season. Hargreaves is good but surely not that good. AU
© Copyright: Absolutely United 2006
