Owen Hargreaves

HARGREAVES RELEASED BY UNITED

Owen Hargreaves has been released by Manchester United after his contract came to an end. Hargreaves' departure from United was fully expected as injury restricted him to just 11 minutes' football in the last two seasons. Woodgate suffered similar problems, making just four appearances in two years.

Birmingham have let a dozen players go, with the likes of Lee Bowyer, Sebastian Larsson, James McFadden, Kevin Phillips and Maik Taylor on their list of free transfers.

MANU OFFER HARGREAVES RESURRECTION

Manchester United are considering the thought of offering Owen Hargreaves the chance to resurrect his career at Old Trafford. Hargreaves has made just two brief appearances in Sir Alex Ferguson’s first-team, amounting to a total of six minutes, since undergoing double knee surgery in Jan 2009.

But although the 30-year-old’s current contract expires on June 30, the club have been impressed by Hargreaves’s determination to regain full fitness, with United confident that the former England international’s knee problems have been resolved.

HARGREAVES SUFFERS INJURY BLOW

Owen Hargreaves will be missing the next few games for Manchester United due to a hamstring injury. Guaranteed to miss the game are Jonny Evans (ankle), Rio Ferdinand (calf), Park Ji-Sung (hamstring) and Owen Hargreaves (hamstring). Michael Owen (groin) joined the injured list this week after he pulled up in training.

Despite his return to training with the reserves, Antonio Valencia is still a few weeks short of a return from a broken leg and dislocated ankle.

Youngsters Joshua King, Matthew James, Ravel Morrison and Will Keane could be handed spots on the substitute's bench.

HARGREAVES MISSES CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Even after returning from two years of injury Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves has missed Champions League matches. Hargreaves, who joined Manchester United for 18 million pounds in the summer of 2007, has played just one season with the side before getting injured. He ruptured his Achilles tendon and made a brief comeback in the 2009-10 season. His first start in nearly two years ended in a disaster when he lasted just five minutes on the pitch before being substituted owing to a hamstring problem.

HARGREAVES IN LIGHT TRAINING

Manchester United midfilder Owen Hargreaves has began training for the club in the past few weeks. Hargreaves had initially been expected to be sidelined by the injury for five weeks, but his progress has been slow, despite a visit to Munich-based specialist Hans-Muller Wohlfahrt last month.

Owen Hargreaves, who has clocked up just six minutes of first-team football since September 2008 because of double knee surgery, has returned to light training at United in recent days.

OWEN TO LEAVE UNITED

Owen Hargreaves is reportedly set to leave Manchester United after failing to recover from a long-standing injury. No fewer than six senior players are expected to leave United at the end of the season, with Edwin van der Sar, Gary Neville, Owen Hargreaves, Tomasz Kuszczak, Michael Owen and Wes Brown all likely to move on, either through retirement or a lack of first-team opportunities.

HARGREAVES TRAVELS TO MUNICH

Owen Hargreaves has travelled to Switzerland to visit a specialist doctor to overcome his injury problems. The 29-year-old tore his hamstring against Wolves last month, in his first start since 2008 after two operations to cure chronic knee problems.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson says the club aim to get Hargreaves back to a level where he can still play football.

Ferguson also played down fears the player's career may be over, saying the England international must "fight it".

OWEN RULED OUT FOR FIVE WEEKS

Owen Hargreaves has been ruled out for another five weeks due to his latest injury. Making his first senior Manchester United start since September 2008, Hargreaves lasted just five minutes before he pulled up indicating he had suffered a problem and had to be replaced by Bebe. Now Ferguson has revealed the 29-year-old will be out of action until the middle of next month.

HARGREAVES IS BACK

Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves could return to the squad after a 19-month layoff Saturday against Chelsea — the last team he faced before being sidelined by knee problems.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said Friday the Calgary-born Hargreaves or defender John O'Shea, who has been out since November, could be among the substitutes at Old Trafford - some punters have even put some free bets on him making the first team!

FERGIE WORRIED ON OWEN

Sir Alex Ferguson believes Owen Hargreaves' confidence has suffered as a result of his long injury lay-off. He is now training with new goalie Anders Lindegaard in the gym.

The Manchester United midfielder, who was left out of Fabio Capello's 30-man provisional World Cup squad, has played only 35 seconds for his club since returning from 20 months out with chronic tendinitis in his knees earlier this month.