Owen Hargreaves has claimed he is not finished with football and the Manchester United ace has insisted he can play on.

The injury-prone England midfielder, who has made two league appearances this season, was not expected to be back in action until January 2010 after undergoing knee surgery last November.

But Hargreaves, who has made only 25 starts in two years since his big money move from Bayern Munich, has affirmed that he could be back playing for United in October.

The 28-year-old said: “I’m going to come back stronger and hopefully add a couple of years to my career.

“It’s been so frustrating. As an athlete and being so competitive, it’s hard to watch when you normally would be out there.”

In his tenure at Manchester United Sir Alex Ferguson has built one of the best football clubs in the world. Ups and downs occurred along the way but under Sir Alex the good far outweighs the bad. United look poised for another league title and are in the hunt for the Champions League title. This looks to be another good year for the Red Devils. Sir Alex's problem is going to be trying to meet his own lofty standards next season.

The season is not yet complete but rumours abound as to which of United's key players are going to return next season. Tevez wants more first team football, Ronaldo looks poised to join Real Madrid, and Berbatov is an enigma at best. If all three of these players move on then Sir Alex's judge of talent will be tested.

The wild card in the United midfield will be Owen Hargreaves. If Sir Alex can wave his magic wand and get a full season out of Hargreaves at his best then things get much easier. This scenario is very unlikely, therefore, Ferguson will have to buy at least one quality central midfielder. Once again, with the debt United has amassed, will the money be available?

Since it is unlikely that Ferguson will have the funds necessary to buy enough high profile players to fill out the squad as he would prefer, this coming summer transfer window will be a showcase for his scouting team and Sir Alex's eye for talent. The United squad is delicately poised at the moment. The players that come in will have to be able to hit the ground running and the players who had sub par seasons will have to turn things around if United is to maintain it's current dominance. If the transfers start slow and players like Nani and Anderson don't step up and play consistently well, United could find themselves fighting the likes of Everton to stay in the "top four".

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Sir Alex Ferguson is confident Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves will be fit for the start of next season.

Hargreaves has been forced to undergo two operations under the guidance of Colorado-based knee specialist Dr Richard Steadman in a bid to cure a tendinitis problem that has plagued him since his arrival from Bayern Munich 18 months ago.

"Owen had a second operation last week and it was completely successful," said the United boss. "This one is completely clear and I am certain he will be ready for the start of next season."

He added: "It was better than the last one, which was much more difficult."

Hargreaves has been restricted to just three appearances this season and has not been on first team duty since the draw at Chelsea in mid-September.

Ryan Giggs and his Manchester United team-mates may still believe they can win teh quadruple!

United are still in it to win it in the FA Cup and Champions league, whilst they top the Premier League adn are in the final of the Carling Cup!

"Hopefully the latest injuries won't have too much of an impact because we've also got the likes of Patrice, Wayne, Wes and Rio all coming back. So that should help," said Ryan.

"People have been talking about us winning all four trophies, but as players we just get on with things. We've got as far as we can in the League Cup now and we'll look forward to the final when it comes round. Next it's the FA Cup, then it's back to the league.

"We've just got to perform well in every game and make sure we have the right attitude and concentration going into whatever competition we're playing in."

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson will have been frustrated by his side's wastefulness, with Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo guilty of throwing away obvious openings.

It was United who had the first opportunity when Arsenal keeper Almunia inexplicably picked up a backpass from Mikael Silvestre inside the first two minutes. Arsenal were relieved when Anderson's free-kick was half-cleared and Michael Carrick turned the loose ball wide.

Rooney missed an even better chance for United after 17 minutes, carelessly lofting an inviting ball from Ronaldo over the top when it seemed certain he would score.

Arsenal took full advantage of the reprieve to take the lead five minutes later, when Nasri's shot took a crucial deflection off Neville and wrong-footed Edwin van der Sar. It was a wonderfully open game but Arsenal were playing like a team stung by recent criticism and the sight of old rivals United had only inspired them further.

Fabregas had a shot deflected just wide but United were threatening themselves and Almunia needed to save well from Ji-Sung Park.

If there was a frustration for Arsenal, it would have been that the crucial second goal had eluded them, despite their dominance. They did not have to wait long to get it as Nasri doubled their advantage three minutes after the restart. Fabregas was at the centre of affairs again, punishing United for failing to pick up Nasri when he threaded through a perfect pass for the France midfield man to beat Van der Sar with an emphatic finish.

United, uncharacteristically, were lacking a cutting edge and wasted a perfect opportunity to grasp at a lifeline immediately after Arsenal's goal. Park found Ronaldo unmarked at the far post but he dragged his shot across the face of goal with only Almunia to beat.

Almunia then required lengthy treatment after an accidental clash with Carrick as United refused to give up on the belief that they could get back into an enthralling encounter. He carried on but was clearly in discomfort and was replaced by Lukasz Fabianski with 12 minutes left.

United also replaced Rooney with Carlos Tevez and Anderson with Ryan Giggs in what was clearly a last throw of the dice by Ferguson as time ran out. Rafael, who had replaced Neville in the 63rd minute, pulled one back in the final minute with a spectacular left-foot volley from the edge of the box after Arsenal failed to clear a Giggs cross.

In a bid to cure his injury problems once and for all, Owen Hargreaves is reportedly set to have an operation that will keep him out of the team for six months!

“The doctors hoped the injections would help the problem but everyone has accepted now it needs another approach,” says ‘a source’.

“Owen has been very down but is hopeful this will help the problem in the long term. United paid a lot of money for Owen so there is pressure for him to do well. But his injury has stopped him showing what he can do.”

Ronaldo might be benched against Celtic as Carlos Tevez and Anderson are back in contention after missing Saturday's 4-0 win over West Bromwich Albion.

Paul Scholes, Owen Hargreaves and Michael Carrick miss out of course and they are joined in the stands by Patrice Evra who was taken off with a hamstring injury against West Brom and won't be risked tomorrow night.

He should be OK for Saturday,' Fergie said, referring to Saturday's trip to Goodison Park. The manager also confirmed that he was considering relegating Ronaldo to the bench as he's still not at full fitness and has played a lot of games in recent weeks.

If he won't start then Nani is likely to take his place in the side. Anderson and Carlos Tevez are likely to be handed starts after missing Saturday's win because they arrived back very late from international duty.

Michael Carrick and Owen Hargreaves seem set for a return to first team football for Manchester United against West Brom next week when the domestic season restarts after the international break.

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said:

“We are expecting Michael to be available next week. He is almost back to full training now.

Owen is much better and we will pencil him in for the West Brom game without question.”

Carrick has been relatively injury free in the two seasons he’s been at United, hopefully he can put his recent injury behind him and stay fit, he’s the sort of player you end up relying on in crunch moments and he rarely lets you down. In fact, when you look at players like Michael Carrick and Wes Brown you might not see first-team starters but they contribute so much to a season (Brown played the most games for United last season) that United would a much poorer squad without them.

Hargreaves is a different story. When fit he ads so much to the team (not least on the right wing and on set pieces) but he’s become Saha-like with his fitness. He needs to stay fit for more than a month or two at a time otherwise he will end up, like Saha, out of the international team and shipped off to another club within an year or two. Fergie will give him as much time as possible though, he’s always stood by his players in such times.

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