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Sir Alex Ferguson's 'Most Disappointing Signing' Talks About Moving To Manchester United
Home>Football
Published 16:35 27 Jun 2022 GMT+1

Sir Alex Ferguson's 'Most Disappointing Signing' Talks About Moving To Manchester United

Fergie didn't always get his transfers right but there was one particular Man United midfielder that 'disappointed' the legendary manager.

Ryan Sidle

Ryan Sidle

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Owen Hargreaves has opened up on how Sir Alex Ferguson convinced him to move to Manchester United, having been called the legendary manager's most 'disappointing' signing.

Ferguson didn't get everything right during his long career at United but having won 13 Premier League titles he certainly got more right than wrong.

Some felt the Scot got it wrong when it came to Paul Pogba leaving the club, back in 2012, but 10 years later it feels that he's certainly been proved right.

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Whilst Fergie is unlikely to think he got signing Owen Hargreaves wrong, the former Aberdeen boss did admit that the former England midfielder was a 'disappointing' signing.

Ferguson was very honest about Hargreaves. Image: Alamy
Ferguson was very honest about Hargreaves. Image: Alamy

Hargreaves didn't fulfil his potential at Old Trafford, thanks to a run of injuries, but still did help the team win a Premier League and Champions League double.

Now the 41-year-old has opened up on what Fergie said to him before signing, and revealed the promise of European success persuaded him to leave Bayern Munich.

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"I remember [when I arrived] he just said, these fans are very knowledgeable. It was a bit along the lines of 'you give them your best and they'll appreciate that,' the former midfielder told the UTD podcast.

"Before I came, we spoke so much and he was one of the driving forces, one of the reasons why I wanted to come. Who doesn't want to play under Sir Alex?

Hargreaves did help United win the Champions League. Image: Alamy
Hargreaves did help United win the Champions League. Image: Alamy

"He has this authority, a natural authority that everybody respected, which was so important in a dressing room of 25 talented people from all over the world who are well paid. But he controlled the show.

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"One of the things he said to me and I'll never forget it was; 'Owen we signed you to help us win the Champions League. You can be a part of that'.

"That was one of the big reasons I wanted to come. [I wanted] to be a part of this team, play at this stadium - and with these fans. That group of players we had was just out of this world. You just wanted to be a piece of the puzzle."

Injuries didn't help Hargreaves at Old Trafford. Image: Alamy
Injuries didn't help Hargreaves at Old Trafford. Image: Alamy

Hargreaves crazily only played 39 games for United from 2007, when he joined for £17 million from Bayern Munich, until leaving for free in 2011.

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However of those games 34 of them came in his first campaign, with the team ending up as Premier League and Champions League winners.

Of course it was disappointing that Hargreaves made less than 40 appearances but one man who United fans will be glad only made two was William Prunier.

The French defender is considered the worst signing in Fergie's history at Old Trafford, and he was only signed during a terrible injury crisis.

His performance in a 4-1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur saw his time at United end rather abruptly and he was also voted as the club's sixth worst player ever.

Featured Image Credit: Alamy

Topics: Owen Hargreaves, Sir Alex Ferguson, Premier League, Champions League, Man Utd

Ryan Sidle
Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a journalist for SPORTbible with over eight years of experience. Passionate about all sports, he mainly covers football and F1 - Daniel Ricciardo once spent an entire interview referring to him as 'Ryan Gosling,' still his proudest moment.

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@Sidler28

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