Owen Hargreaves was released from his contract by Manchester United last year after he suffered a number of injuries which restricted his abilities on the field.
This gave a chance for Manchester City to scoop up the talented youngster for itself. This was a calculated gamble by the City management as Hargreaves was an influential player for club as well as country.
But their plan didn’t work out as planned and he only made 4 appearances for the club, in which he scored only once. According to City management, they had hoped that they would be able to get him match-ready in a couple of weeks but after a hiatus of nearly two years, small problems kept cropping up.
As City aren’t expected to renew their contract with the English midfielder after his injuries, the rumor mills are abuzz with gossip that he might be moving to Reading on a loan.
Reading is a lower division club and because of the lesser pressure, Hargreaves could return to match-ready health quite soon. Getting a player from the most respected league in the country might seem very ambitious for a second division club, but a similar deal was almost finalized with another player from Robert Mancini’s side.
This, therefore, might not be very far-fetched. Another reason that Brian McDermott, the side’s manager, could be looking to get Hargreaves on board is that Mikele Leigterwood has had a recurring thigh problem.
A number of people, however, aren’t convinced that Reading can afford the high wages of the Canadian-born midfielder. These people believe that Hargreaves will be taken on by Reading in a pay-as-you-play scheme. This would be beneficial to the club, as they would have to pay less money; it would also benefit Hargreaves giving him more incentive to get back into shape soon and play more matches.