£17 MILLION FOR HARGREAVES

From the Guardian:

Sir Alex Ferguson is optimistic of bringing Owen Hargreaves to Manchester United after his first face-to-face talks with the player and an apparent breakthrough in the club's discussions with Bayern Munich.

A deal in the region of £17m could go through in the next few days with Hargreaves having made it clear he wants to leave Munich, and the Bundesliga champions accepting his reasons.

Ferguson invited Hargreaves to the club's training ground yesterday morning, where he is understood to have spoken at length about taking over the role vacated by Roy Keane's departure last November. Whether Bayern had any idea about this meeting is unclear but it has become apparent that Ferguson believes he is on the verge of completing his third signing of the summer.

The Bayern midfielder was pictured leaving the Lowry Hotel in Manchester with an escort from the CES security firm, a company used by United.

Hargreaves hopes the transfer can be completed over the weekend although, first, United must confirm a fee with Bayern, who can cite the fact that the Carling Cup holders paid Tottenham £18m for Michael Carrick, one of the players Hargreaves is keeping out of the England team.

The German club have tried to persuade Hargreaves to stay but are reluctant to keep an unsettled player and their priority now is getting the best deal they can.

The deal is likely to have repercussions for Marcos Senna of Villarreal, who threatened yesterday to pull out of his proposed move to Old Trafford because of the length of time it was taking to go through and may now find he is no longer wanted anyway.

Hargreaves' agent Roman Grill is quoted:

“I don't know whether Owen has permission to talk to United or not. Owen's interest in playing for United next season is serious.

“He has a contract to 2010 but the chairman at Bayern insists there is no chance of Owen being sold. Owen has to talk with his club and make his plans clear. This should happen in a very good atmosphere.

“It is not a question of whether the club want to discuss a transfer. It is obvious that they need players like Owen and they don't want him to leave. But the player wants to tell the club how he sees his future.

“He will talk with the coach Felix Magath. Owen sees this as an excellent opportunity Owen will continue to push for a move there (to United), there is no need to discuss any other offers.

“Owen rates United on the same level as Bayern Munich with the advantage that, being an England player, it would be better to play at United. There, he could replace Roy Keane and play in his favourite position in front of the defence where he can show off his full abilities. The time has now come to evaluate where he is in his career.”

UWS reports:

“Bayern are being stubborn. This is because they wanted to do a deal with Van Nistelrooy and Hargreaves and feel that their noses have been put out.

“United re-ignited interest in Hargreaves after Senna started stalling. Senna wants to come, but his agent is being a tool. Senna earns £21k basic a week at Villarreal. His agent wants £60k a week for him while United have offered around £40k.”