http://bit.ly/oiiiME Switching from Manchester United to their Town rivals would not lead to these kinds of a furore for Owen Hargreaves as it did for Carlos Tevez. Photograph: Anna Gowthorpe/PA

Manchester Metropolis are convinced Owen Hargreaves can resurrect his profession at the Etihad Stadium as they put together to hand the former Manchester United midfielder a shock a single-yr contract.
The 30-year-previous is a totally free agent obtaining been released by United at the end of final season next four injury-plagued a long time at Outdated Trafford. Hargreaves, who expense United £18m from Bayern Munich in 2007, has played only 6 minutes of initial-crew football in nearly 3 many years and resorted to submitting a fitness video on YouTube this summertime in an try to dispel issues his profession had been finished by continual patellar tendinitis.
West Bromwich Albion had been favourites to sign the previous England global but his decision to let other suitors to materialise as the transfer deadline approached has compensated dividends in the sort of a 12-month contract offer you from City. The deal has not been finalised and, as Hargreaves is a no cost agent, Metropolis have until finally Friday to safe his signature but it will be seriously incentivised on best of a small basic income, supplying the midfielder consents.
City's interest grew to become known when the previous United player was photographed leaving the Bridgewater hospital in Manchester on Tuesday morning. He has undergone extensive health care tests and Town are convinced he is fit enough to resume a best-flight occupation even with a dreadful damage report. Hargreaves had surgery on the two knees throughout his time at Aged Trafford and his surgeon, Dr Richard Steadman, described the joints as the worst he had noticed in 35 many years. Nevertheless the FA Cup winners assume to add Hargreaves to their squad prior to Friday.
Roberto Mancini views Hargreaves as cover for Nigel de Jong in the holding midfield part at Town and as a novel, inexpensive remedy to becoming informed that last week's £24m signing of Samir Nasri from Arsenal would be City's previous expenditure in this transfer window.
The Metropolis hierarchy are adamant there is no far more money for transfer costs this summer time but, with the manager anxious for confirmed cover in every single position, and contesting the squad could turn out to be overreliant on De Jong as it pursues the Premier League and Champions League this time, he proposed Hargreaves as a lower-price tag option.
Mancini's most recent transfer move even took the club's goalkeeper, Joe Hart, by surprise. When informed of Hargreaves's anticipated arrival at The Etihad, the England international replied: "Wowzers! Where's that arrive from? I do not know what to make of that. You have set me on my toes. It could be a significant signing. You can notify how important he was. I've in no way been concerned with him but I saw a good deal of him when he was at Bayern Munich and then Manchester United. He is a huge player if you get him suit."
Joleon Lescott, the Town defender, claimed Hargreaves could yet revive his England job delivering his fitness is taken care of. The England centre-50 %, who overcame a significant knee issue of his individual although at Wolverhampton Wanderers, stated: "I am not amazed that we're signing Owen since he's a fantastic player. He can surely come again for England. I will not feel any individual is ruling him out of any levels of competition. The supervisor has witnessed a thing. We all know he's got the high quality to play Champions League football as properly. That can only bode well for the club. If we win the league this year then I'm certain they will nevertheless want to keep bettering the squad."
A note of caution was sounded by Hargreaves's previous United group-mate, Wayne Rooney, who questioned the midfielder's potential to recapture the sort that produced him England's player of the 2006 World Cup. Rooney explained: "He is been out for a couple of years now. To be honest to him he's worked actually hard and he obtained again previous season, played 1 game and did his hamstring. It will be challenging for him to get back to his very best. I wish he can. From an England point of watch he's the kind of midfield player we have not genuinely had prior to. If he can get again, wonderful. But it will be hard for him."