Hargreaves tells of ‘guinea pig’ years at Man Utd

OWEN HARGREAVES has said he felt like a "guinea pig" at Old Trafford as Manchester United’s medical staff tried for three years to cure his injury problems. Speaking just 24 hours after scoring on his debut for Manchester City, the 30-year-old midfielder described in detail his years of injury hell at Old Trafford that saw him play just six minutes of first-team football for the Red Devils.

"After my first season, I had a bit of a [knee] tendon problem, which I did not realise the magnitude of," explained Hargreaves, whose goal for City in their 2-0 defeat of Birmingham in the Carling Cup was his first since netting for United against Arsenal in April 2008. "I played and it got a little bit worse. We treated it and it got significantly worse after that through the injections I had."

Hargreaves didn’t feel that the injections were helping his recovery but despite his concerns the United medical staff continued with them. "They said it would help. That obviously wasn't the case," said Hargreaves, who was keen to stress that he bore no malice towards the staff. "With my tendon injury, I've had to be a guinea pig for a lot of these treatments. You're left to try and make something of a difficult situation."

Hargreaves had arrived at Old Trafford in the summer of 2007 in a £19m move from Bayern Munich, and in his first season played 34 games as United won the Premier League and Champions League. But towards the end of 2008 the tendinitis that had first appeared the previous season deteriorated and Hargreaves underwent surgery on both knees.  

Looking back on that period, Hargreaves said: "I received some injections and after that my tendon was never the same... at times I'd watch games and be jealous of the way people could move."

While there is no evidence of misdiagnosis or mistreatment by the United medical staff while Hargreaves was in their care, the former England midfielder is nonetheless delighted to be making a fresh start on the other side of Manchester, having made the move last month.

"These guys [the City medical staff] have been magnificent and that’s why I ended up playing against Birmingham," said Hargreaves, who believes he still has a couple of good years left in him.

"It’s just about getting some repetition in my training and trying to find some balance, staying sharp and fit and looking after some of the issues I’ve had." ·