Owen Hargreaves will join Manchester United on July 1. The Old Trafford club have confirmed a deal has been completed with Bayern Munich for the England international and with personal terms agreed and a medical passed, all that is required now is for the 25-year-old to officially sign what is expected to be a five-year contract. Hargreaves will do that when he returns from a family holiday in his native Canada at the end of next month, with the move formally taking effect on July 1. "Manchester United is delighted to announce that it has agreed terms with Bayern Munich for the transfer of Owen Hargreaves," said the statement.
"The player has also agreed terms with the club and passed his medical. "Owen will formally sign his contract with Manchester United when he returns from his holiday at the end of June and will join on July 1, 2007." The announcement ends a year-long pursuit of the Calgary-born star by Sir Alex Ferguson and comes less than 24 hours after United revealed they had agreed transfers in principle for Anderson and Nani from Porto and Sporting Lisbon respectively.
Ferguson made a concerted effort to bring Hargreaves to Old Trafford after the World Cup, in which the midfielder turned out to be one of England's few success stories. Hargreaves left no-one in any doubt he wanted to make the move, only for Bayern to block the deal fearing supporter unrest after losing Michael Ballack to Chelsea.
Ferguson was hopeful of resurrecting the deal in January but those plans were scuppered when Hargreaves - who has family which hails from Bolton - broke his leg on club duty against Arminia Bielefeld in September. However, there was little doubt the United boss was determined to push the transfer through once the season was over and Bayern's failure to qualify for next year's Champions League only made it more certain Hargreaves would end up at Old Trafford.
Although no fee has been mentioned, it is thought to be around the £17million mark. With the sums initially paid out for Anderson and Nani taken into account, Ferguson has already spent £40million, with more to come as he continues the search for a central striker.
OWEN HARGREAVES FACTFILE1981: Born, January 20 in Calgary, Canada.
1994: Signs for Calgary Foothills FC.
1997: Signs for Bayern Munich.
2000: Makes debut for England Under-21s under Howard Wilkinson, a 6-1 defeat of Georgia.
2001: Part of the Bayern team which wins a Bundesliga and Champions League double as well as the World Club Championship.
August - Awarded first England cap under Sven-Goran Eriksson when he starts the 2-0 defeat to Holland at White Hart Lane.
2002: Included in the England squad for the 2002 World Cup but a collision with Michael Owen after 15 minutes against Argentina rules him out for the rest of the tournament.
2003: Wins second Bundesliga and the DFB Pokal, the German FA Cup.
2004: Included in the England squad which reaches the quarter-finals of Euro 2004. Hargreaves makes three substitute appearances, twice for Paul Scholes and once for Steven Gerrard.
2005: Wins third Bundesliga and second DFB Pokal.
October - Signs four-year contract extension with Bayern.
2006: Included in the squad for the World Cup to much derision but is voted England's player of the tournament by fans as an under-performing team reach the quarter-finals.
August - Admits he is interested in a move to Manchester United.
September - Breaks left leg in Bundesliga match against Arminia Bielefeld.
2007: April - Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer admits Hargreaves will leave the club for the right bid.
May 31 - United announce Hargreaves will join the club on July 1.
