THE SUN says Owen Hargreaves left the England hotel at 7.40 a.m. in a Man Utd club car with the same Man United security man who took Carrick to Carrington, their training ground.
As I was watching Hargreaves play brilliantly against the feeble Greeks on Wednesday night, I was thinking that he is a cross between Nobby Stiles and Claude Makelele.
Like Stiles in the Sixties, he is quick and gets in tight and bites your legs.He has very few sloppy moments. His concentration is fantastic.
Like Makelele, he is a polite assassin. He kicks you and picks you up with a smile that says,"We're both men, its a man's game, and you know that's my job.So let's get on with it."
Hargreaves is 25, a neat passer , a great athlete, a terrific pro who has grown up outside the PremierSky bubble, acquiring a lot of good habits in the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich.
If this £17 million deal happens, Sir Alex has replaced Roy Keane by spending £35 million on Hargreaves and Carrick.
Say what you like about the Glazers, that is serious money.
I WAS HAVING a great week, a fabulous week, till I saw this news.
It's a punch in the face.
Kuyt to Liverpool, who cares? Kuyt is an honest centre forward who will score some goals.He won't make a huge difference over 38 Prem games.
Hargreaves will, so I'm gutted.
He should be playing for Arsenal.
A million Arsenal fans will now be asking : Are we playing for fourth place again ?
Still, they'll feel better after quick-passing Arsenal thump Aston Villa 5-0 tomorrow.
Last season Arsenal beat Villa 5-0 at Highbury on April 1st.
Ashley Cole will not play because Arsene doesn't want the game disrupted by a hate mob who would inevitably abuse Cole.
He has told the board to unload him immediately. Like you and me, AW realises this nasty saga has gone on far too long.