OTHER SPORT

HARGREAVES CLOSER TO HIS £17M DREAM

Owen Hargreaves

Wednesday April 25,2007

By Julia White for express.co.uk

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OWEN HARGREAVES could seal his dream £17million move to Manchester United as a casualty of a massive summer clear-out at Bayern Munich.

Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld has vowed to swing the axe as the Germans face failure to qualify for the Champions League.

England star Hargreaves, 26, has seen them block moves to United twice since he played
so well in the World Cup. But they are five points off the Champions League places with only four games to play.

Hitzfeld insists he will rip up the current squad and rebuild. “We will definitely have a major team rebuilding exercise because we have fallen below expectations,” he said.

“We will look at individuals, assessing performance and desire. So that makes the next four weeks important for every player and for me. Obviously, we don’t wait until the end of May before thinking about next season.”

Hitzfeld has warned his unsettled stars to forget about thrashing out an escape route before the end of the campaign, however.

He said: “We still have four matches to play, but there’s an immense danger the team could fall apart. The media are talking about new signings and some of the players are talking to other clubs.

“It’s a precarious situation, but I won’t tolerate it. I’ll step in at once.”

United winger Ryan Giggs is trying his best to convince his fellow Welshman Gareth Bale to sign from Southampton in the summer.