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England star alerts Premiership
Written by Sawyer | 2nd July 2006 | 2 Comment(s)
Amid the disappointment of yet another England penalty fiasco there is at least one player who has come out of the Tournament with an enhanced reputation.
Bayern Munich's Owen Hargreaves was at the centre of many people's criticism a few weeks ago which by-and-large may have been the case because most English fans didn't see the player perform for his club every week.
Arsenal's Arsene Wenger and Tottenham's Martin Jol are among the managers who have been linked with the player, and neither of those are a bad judge so maybe we should have known that Hargreaves was worth his place in the squad.
His performances for England grew in stature as the tournament progressed, as will his transfer fee should Arsenal, Tottenham or anyone else look to secure the services of a player who should now have a long international future ahead of him.
Hargreaves has spoken of his desire to play in the England saying, ‘'it would be a dream to play in the Premiership.''
However, there is a limit to the teams he would consider. Hargreaves stated that, ‘'I would not leave Bayern Munich for a team not playing Champions League football,'' which would leave Tottenham out of the running unless the player remained in Munich for another season and Spurs qualified next year.
Tottenham and Arsenal have been the only teams to have held talks with Hargreaves, but that was some time ago.
Chelsea is somewhat over-laden with midfielders, so that would leave The Gunners, Liverpool and Manchester United as realistic suitors in the immediate future.
On a weekend where Arsenal's Jens Lehmann revealed his extensive database of penalty-takers, thus once again highlighting German efficiency, it will not have gone un-noticed that England's only successful penalty was converted by a player from the German Bundesliga.
The fact that Hargreaves was able to keep cool under pressure should not be under-estimated, and in-coming boss Steve McClaren could have some tough decisions to make regarding the partnership of Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, assuming England is in a position to select two forwards rather than just one.
Any manager would be a brave man to drop either although Lampard should be the favourite to warm the bench; but isn't the England manager paid a handsome financial reward to make decisions like that?
Whether Hargreaves would swap what seems to be a guaranteed Championship medal every year for a tilt at the Premiership is ultimately up to him, but from what we've seen over the last few weeks his talents would more than suit the League of which he has chosen to represent internationally.
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Comments
Comment by Owen Hargreaves on Sunday 16 July 2006 @ 12:26am
Comment by Your name here on Saturday 15 July 2006 @ 11:19pm
Your thoughtsYay
Well actually yeah its true i'm as good as they say i am...Man United would be a perfect place for me i think...the prospects of a hargreaves+carrick would certainly make the gaffer rethink the ineffectiveness of a gerrard+lampard combo..having said that,i'm still keeping my options open though...jenas,parker & phil don't look too bad either...