Man Utd boss Ferguson still interested in Hargreaves

Nov 1, 2006, 13:10 GMT

London - Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson remains hopeful of signing Bayern Munich and England midfielder Owen Hargreaves, British media reported Wednesday.

'We are still interested,' Sir Alex told reporters in Denmark ahead of United's Champions League match with FC Copenhagen. 'But I can't give any update because we haven't spoken to Bayern Munich recently.'

United chased 25-year-old Hargreaves in the summer, but Bayern refused to sell. The midfielder is currently recovering from a broken leg.

Hargreaves publicly stated at the time that he wanted to join United but said recently his sole immediate aim now was to concentrate on getting back to full fitness.

Ferguson succeeded in signing Michael Carrick from Tottenham Hotspur but insisted the England midfielder was not a replacement for Hargreaves.

'If we had got Owen Hargreaves it would have given us a complete variation of the type of midfield players you need in the modern game,' he said.

'We focused on Michael Carrick and Owen right away (during the close season). We got one and didn't get the other.'

Reports said United had been prepared to pay Bayern 25 million euros (31.9 million dollars) for Hargreaves who has a contract with the German champions until 2010.

According to the Daily Mirror newspaper Wednesday, United are now preparing to raise their offer to 30 million euros in the coming January transfer window.