A quiet chill has descended over Old Trafford much like the rest of Britain with not much to report following the postponement of Saturday’s fixture with Blackpool. But with the snow unrelenting a few rays of semi-sunshine emanated from the manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
The boss has confirmed that Owen Hargeaves is in Munich having treatment on the hamstring injury he sustained during his comeback match against Wolves at the beginning of November.
Despite only lasting 6 minutes of his first start follwing a two year injury nightmare, Ferguson was adament he was ready for the match.
“He was doing so well in training before the Wolves game. He was absolutely superb,” the boss told Sky Sports
“There were no qualms whatsoever about putting him in, even though he had only trained for nine days.
“We were confident enough to play him but unfortunately it has proved to be a disappointment for us.”
There has also been speculation that Hargreaves will retire if he fails to overcome this latest setback. Something to which Fergie replied with, “He has to fight it. There is no other way.”
Speculation has hightened over the last few days that he may be released at the end of the season as his contract expires in the summer, but Sir Alex rebuffed these rumours.
“It’s [Hargreaves’ contract] not something we’re thinking about at this moment in time,” Sir Alex said.
“We’re all concerned, he hasn’t played for over two years.
“Our biggest challenge is to get him back to a level where he can still play football.”
Will he stay? Will he go? Will he ever get back to the level of 2008? Only time will tell.
Another player linked with a move away from United is Magnus Eikrem, the youngster has been linked with a move to Molde, following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer from United to the Norwegian team.
The newly appointed Molde boss did not exactly quell speculation.
“I hope he will have a long and successful career in Manchester,” Solskjaer told Norwegian newspaper Romsdals Budstikke.
“I have worked with him for two years and he is a great lad. If he does not get a new offer, he is an interesting player for us.”
A spate of retirements looks likely to go ahead with Edwin van der Sar looking set to hang up his gloves, now Gary Neville seems set to hang up his boots after failing to make an impact on the first team this year.
The club captain could well take over as United’s reserve team coach once Solskjaer has moved back to Molde.
Finally, one player who we may also see retire at Old Trafford id Dimitar Berbatov after the player’s agent, Emil Danchev said, “I’m almost sure he will finish his competitive career with United,”
“He is a very balanced person and he knows what is best for him.”
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