{"id":664540,"date":"2025-12-31T11:10:32","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T11:10:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/664540\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T11:10:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T11:10:32","slug":"sir-alex-ferguson-regretted-disaster-signing-that-cost-man-united-17-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/664540\/","title":{"rendered":"Sir Alex Ferguson regretted ‘disaster’ signing that cost Man United \u00a317 million"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sir Alex Ferguson dubbed one of his signings “a disaster” when reflecting on his time as Manchester United manager\"SirSir Alex Ferguson hit out at one of his Manchester United signings(Image: John Peters\/Manchester United via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Sir Alex Ferguson was lauded for many of his signings at Manchester United<\/a> but even he made mistakes in the transfer window. The legendary manager, who celebrates his 84th birthday on Wednesday, once described midfielder Owen Hargreaves\u2019<\/a> time at Old Trafford<\/a> as \u201ca disaster\u201d.<\/p>\n

The England international arrived at United from Bayern Munich<\/a> with a tremendous pedigree in 2007. The new \u00a317million man had won four Bundesliga titles and clinched the Champions League<\/a> during his time at the German club, with Hargreaves also earning acclaim on the international stage for his star performances during the 2006 World Cup.<\/p>\n

A defensive midfielder, he was viewed as a possible successor to Roy Keane and initially enjoyed success. Hargreaves made 34 appearances in his debut season as Ferguson\u2019s<\/a> side secured a memorable Premier League<\/a> and Champions League double, including scoring in the fateful penalty shootout against Chelsea<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, his fortunes quickly soured the following year, with a recurring patellar tendinitis problem keeping him sidelined and virtually ending his career. Hargreaves would make just five further appearances over the next three seasons, leading Ferguson to label him one of his most underwhelming signings<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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In his 2013 autobiography, Ferguson wrote: “We started to put together a bid for him. But I studied his playing record and felt a tinge of doubt.<\/p>\n

“I didn\u2019t feel a strong vibe about him. David Gill worked hard on the deal with Bayern. I met Owen\u2019s agent at the World Cup final in Berlin. Nice man, a lawyer. I told him we could develop Hargreaves at United.<\/p>\n

\"OwenOwen Hargreaves made 39 appearances under Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United(Image: Matthew Peters\/Manchester United via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

“It turned out to be a disaster. Owen had no confidence in himself whatsoever. He didn\u2019t show nearly enough determination to overcome his physical difficulties, for my liking.<\/p>\n

“I saw him opt for the easy choice too often in terms of training. He was one of the most disappointing signings of my career.”<\/p>\n

Hargreaves left United at the end of his contract in 2011, crossing the divide to join rivals Manchester City<\/a>, where he featured four times during another injury-hampered campaign before retiring. The current TNT Sports pundit previously told MEN Sport<\/strong> how he had reacted to Ferguson\u2019s criticism<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“I rang him, when I heard,” Hargreaves said in 2021. “I was surprised myself. My family were really surprised.<\/p>\n

“I think anyone who’s been around me knows that I left home at 15 alone, to go to a country where I couldn’t speak the language to play football. I left the comfort of Bayern to play for Man United, because I wanted to represent Man United, to play for Sir Alex and be part of that great team.<\/p>\n

\"EdwinHargreaves won the Premier League during his first season at the club(Image: John Peters\/Manchester United via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

“I never took the easy step. I played for a country I wasn’t even born in because I wanted to be the best. I probably never should have been a professional football player, based on my start! But I worked my way and, obviously, didn’t finish the way I wanted. A lot of things went into that.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: “As much as it was disappointing for him not having me play – because when I was fit, he played me all the time. I told him on the phone, I promised him, it broke me more than it did him. Because that was my career.<\/p>\n

“To this day, I haven’t done a day of sport since. I can’t because of my knee. If you just forget the football side, my career changed from one day to the next and for a young man chasing a ball around all of his life, it was a pretty significant day. I haven’t been able to play sport like that since. To say it went the way I envisioned would be a lie.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sir Alex Ferguson dubbed one of his signings “a disaster” when reflecting on his time as Manchester United…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":664541,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,4884,2465,423,9060,21619,1883,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-664540","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-manchester","12":"tag-manchester-united-fc","13":"tag-manchester-united-transfer-news","14":"tag-owen-hargreaves","15":"tag-sir-alex-ferguson","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115813877536773484","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=664540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/664541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=664540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=664540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=664540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}