Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is lining Owen Hargreaves up as his new free-kick king. The departure of Cristiano Ronaldo for Real Madrid has left United looking for a new dead-ball expert.
Ryan Giggs has stepped into the breach so far this term, scoring against Tottenham, then again in Wednesday's Champions League triumph over Wolfsburg, thanks to the aid of a massive deflection.
Yet Ferguson knows he will not be able to rely on the veteran Welshman all season. And, remembering Hargreaves' precise strike against Arsenal in April last year, Ferguson is looking forward to the midfielder's recovery from knee surgery with eager anticipation.
"Outside Cristiano Ronaldo, I don't think there is a better deliverer of set pieces than Owen," said the United boss. "That is one of the areas in which he may help us more.
"People may look upon free-kicks as minimal. I see them as an added detail to a football team. "Ronaldo could get three or four goals like that. We are still searching for someone else. If Owen can do it, that will be a bonus for us."
Ferguson has previously indicated Hargreaves could be back in action by the beginning of next month as he comes to the end of a lengthy rehabilitation process following revolutionary surgery to cure a tendinitis problem that developed in both knees prior to his exit from Bayern Munich.
As someone equally adept in central midfield or right-back, Hargreaves would be a useful addition to the present United squad. And, while Ferguson is reluctant to expect too much too quickly from a player who has been sidelined for an entire year, and plagued by injury before that, the Scot admits the signs are encouraging.
"It gives me another problem, but it is one I welcome," he said. "He is coming along fine. His physio has gone back to America so he is completely in our control now and hopefully he will be back into football training quite soon.
"The signs are good. There has been absolutely no reaction to the operations. "It has been a long road for the boy but he made a sacrifice by staying in America for a year to make sure he was right. "That shows a good determination to come back and do well."