Hargreaves set to seal Man Utd switch

Bayern officially bade farewell to Mehmet Scholl (retiring), Hasan Salihamidzic (Juventus), Claudio Pizarro and Ali Karimi (new clubs not yet known) on Saturday, but the number of confirmed departures appears to have increased by one on the news that Owen Hargreaves is poised to complete a switch to newly-crowned English Premiership champions Manchester United.

"A player like Owen Hargreaves would have fitted well in our team for the new season," Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge lamented, "Owen is one of the best holding midfielders in the world. It weakens us from a sporting point of view." According to reports, Hargreaves will be offered a four-year deal in the north-west of England.

Major challenge

The switch, first mooted in the aftermath of last summer's World Cup and rarely out of the transfer rumour columns since then, has taken on more concrete shape over the last few weeks. The Canadian-born player, under contract at Bayern until 30 June 2010, has himself been quoted as favouring a move to the Premiership: "It would be a massive challenge."

Rummenigge accepted that the man named 2006 Player of the Year for his country could no longer be denied a move. "Owen is going. It's what he wants," club President Franz Beckenbauer told DSF sports TV on Sunday morning. The clubs are understood to have agreed the basic terms of the transfer for an undisclosed fee.

Disappointing season

Hargreaves arrived at Bayern from Canada in summer 1997 and was groomed in the club's much-praised junior team, before making his Bundesliga debut in a 4-1 win against Hertha Berlin in August 2000. Owen has chalked up 144 Bundesliga appearances in a red shirt, scoring five goals, with a further 43 games in the Champions League and 22 in the DFB German Cup.

The versatile midfielder's reputation and value soared after a string of outstanding displays at the World Cup, but the 2006-7 campaign was destined to be a disappointment. Hargreaves fractured a shin bone away to Arminia Bielefeld on matchday four and missed several months of the season, ending on just nine appearances after an inflamed knee kept him out of the run-in.

Reunion in 2008-9?

Hargreaves will now continue his pursuit of domestic and international glory in a different red shirt, although there is no chance of a reunion with his former Bayern team-mates until the 2008-9 campaign, unless United finish third in their Champions League group and end up in the UEFA Cup after Christmas.