Hargreaves retiring would be a waste of talent

Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves has endured a nightmare two years with injuries and there are now rumours the England midfielder could be forced to retire because of his injury problems.

Comeback

Hargreaves made his first start for United in two years when appearing for United against Wolves late last month.

He lasted less than 10 minutes before being replaced by Bebe. He had suffered a hamstring injury which will sideline him for another lengthy spell.

Problems

Hargreaves has struggled with tendinitis in both knees and has had surgery on numerous occasions. Injury problems have prevented the 29 year-old making a success of his United career. In fact he is considered by many to be a big money flop.

Concerns

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has expressed his concerns over the former-Bayern star’s situation. He told Sky Sports: “We are all concerned,”

“He has not played for over two years so we would have to be super-optimistic to think everything in the garden was rosy about him making comebacks. What we are trying to do is help the lad. That in itself is our biggest challenge. We want to help the lad try to get back to a level where he can still play football.”

He sounds like he is trying to be positive for the sake of the player but knows that he will never get the player back who impressed with Bayern in the Bundesliga and earned himself a move to the Red Devils.

Impressive

Owen Hargreaves played for England despite the fact that he had never even lived in the country. Three Lions fans were sceptical about Hargreaves playing for England because he was born in Canada and had lived Germany since he was 16.

It took him along time to overcome his critics when playing for England. However in the 2006 World Cup in Germany he was arguably England’s best player, as England again underachieved at a major tournament.

His high energy game won him a place in the starting line-up and he was one of the few successes of England tournament. After the World Cup he was considered England’s most effective defensive midfielder and if he was fit I’m sure he would be part of Fabio Capello’s current England setup.

Expensive

Hargreaves moved to Manchester United in 2007 for a fee of around £17million. He has proved a very expensive acquisition, making just 27 Premier League appearances for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side.

That’s not exactly great value for money and I read a startling statistic, if true, that including wages Hargreaves has cost United £1million per appearance. Even a club of Manchester United’s size can’t afford that sort of luxury player.

Leaving

Hargreaves contract at Old Trafford expires next summer and he is unlikely to be given a new one. If and when he does leave United then he will have to show that he can stay fit and injury-free if he is to secure a deal elsewhere. He turns 30 next month and if could prove he is just able to play on.

Unfortunate

He has endured some awful luck with injuries but many people are saying that the injuries have affected his mindset. There are even suggestions that his mental state could be the reason that he is finding it hard to return to football.

Hope

I just hope that Hargreaves can overcome his problems and get back onto the football pitch in the near future. If he doesn’t then it will have been a massive waste of a good footballing talent.

Will Owen Hargreaves ever play again for Manchester United?