The Rumour Mill

Moyes said to be mulling over Hargreaves

19/09/2012 |

Comments (42)

Owen Hargreaves has been without a club since leaving Manchester City at the end of last season, after manging just four appearances for the Premier League champions due to injury.

The fitness problems that have dogged the 31-year-old's career also hampered his time at Manchester United before that, but he had hoped to get his career back on track at the Etihad, before Roberto Mancini released him in June.

However, Hargreaves has had no shortage of offers since, and had looked set to sign a one-year contract at French club Lille a fortnight ago, following a training stint with the club.

The Canada-born midfielder had even been spotted in the stands at some of their recent matches, but after Lille pulled out of the deal at the last minute, Hargreaves is back at square one.

He has had some contact with a number of Championship clubs since, but the player is desperate to remain in the top flight, and Everton boss David Moyes is now said to be mulling over offering him a trial with a view to a permanent deal.

Moyes, who is looking to add to his options in defensive midfielder after losing out on Steven N'Zonzi to Stoke last month, could offer Hargreaves a pay-as-you-play contract, with a basic salary of just £10,000-a-week. Original Source: Metro Rumour source ranking:
1 = Poor; 2 = Fair; 3 = Good; 4 = Very Good; Empty (grey) = Unranked

Reader Comments

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer

Karl Masters
737 Posted 19/09/2012 at 17:27:01

That could still be half a million down the drain if he gets another injury though. Hitzlsperger would be a better bet, but he is better going forward I thought so maybe not what we need just now.

Can't we just hang on till Darron is fit again in a couple of weeks and then sign somenoe in January?

If Hargreaves comes in it really should be ' pay as you play' with only a very small retainer. He's hardly going to be on the breadline is he?

Danny Burke
741 Posted 19/09/2012 at 17:42:21

Great player in his time. Injury record over the last few years makes Saha and Ledley King look like superheroes. On that basis, sadly no for me.

Kevin Day
745 Posted 19/09/2012 at 17:49:29

Very good player, I feel for the lad really as no one can help injuries, but because of his record he just cannot be relied upon, shame really.

Nick Entwistle
747 Posted 19/09/2012 at 17:56:22

Nigel Reo-Coker. Why is he not being mentioned? Just the trype of player Moyes has plucked from the wilderness in the past and made better than ever.

Nick Entwistle
750 Posted 19/09/2012 at 17:59:45

Just answered my own question. Spot the typo.

Barry Rathbone
753 Posted 19/09/2012 at 18:03:28

Nick, despite the typo I agree with taking on Reo Coker, unless there's an unknown somewhere he's seems one of the better free agents.

Ken Crowther
754 Posted 19/09/2012 at 18:05:03

Nick, there's a Freudian slip if ever I saw one!

Nick Entwistle
758 Posted 19/09/2012 at 18:12:07

Ooooh Ken, you're touching on my pet hate here. It could be perceived as a Freudian slip, but as that would mean a subconscious intervention to my conscious and positive communication regarding Reo-Coker, submitted on its own merits, then no, it would not be!
However, were I to be his agent and looking to pick up some percentage on my dog of a footballing client, yes, you would then be correct.

And I want a thousand word essay on this, on my desk, tomorrow!

James Smith
770 Posted 19/09/2012 at 20:02:19

Old and unreliable; not what we want.

Ciarán McGlone
774 Posted 19/09/2012 at 20:39:51

Reo Coker would be my choice too... an underated player.

Alasdair Mackay
775 Posted 19/09/2012 at 20:50:05

Hitzelsperger, Hargreaves, Reo-Coker - any of them are fine for a stop-gap.

Soon, though, please - Neville in central midfield is not the answer.

Tony McNulty
776 Posted 19/09/2012 at 21:00:04

Neville is like blue shirts at Goodison, Z cars and Bill Kenwright looking down on the half way line. He's a fixture for the moment, the manager's mouthpiece on the pitch. Whether any of us like or not.

David Hallwood
777 Posted 19/09/2012 at 21:07:25

Hargreaves will make Saha look like an everpresent. Too many injuries that has taken his box to box game away from him-such a shame.

James Smith
780 Posted 19/09/2012 at 21:33:44

His legs don't work... I would rather see some of our reserves get some action and gain some experience than have Hargreaves running up and down the field.

Or should I say limping up and down the field....

Mike Allison
781 Posted 19/09/2012 at 21:51:35

I've been saying Hargreaves all along. An obvious worry given the amount of football he's missed in the last five years, but he's a comfortably better player than Reo-Coker or Hitzlsperger. On £10k a week and pay as you play I think its a very good option, especially as he seemed to have shown a real hunger to prove himself last season.

Keith Glazzard
782 Posted 19/09/2012 at 22:01:00

I suspect - and I dearly hope I'm wrong - that hanging on for Darron 'for a couple of weeks' isn't an option. His injury is giving a very good impression of being something that recurs, something resulting from an incident a long time ago.

Neville in Gibson's role is certainly no answer, and Moyes would bench Hibbo to keep him in the team. Heitinga would - even playing out of position - be better than Neville, but that is unlikely to happen. He should be first choice CB anyway. Maybe after Monday that might happen.

So - if Moyes does go for another defensive mid, no matter who, I would say that Darron Gibson, fine player that he is, looks like an injury risk.

Michael Winstanley
790 Posted 19/09/2012 at 22:35:47

Where's Junior?

Sam Hoare
793 Posted 19/09/2012 at 22:51:42

Crazy perhaps but I would take Hargreaves pending a medical that shows we would get at least some game time out of him.

Always thought when he played he looked liked England's best player and passed the ball so intelligently.

Basically I'll take anything that provides an alternative, however fleeting, to Neville.

Keith Slinger
800 Posted 19/09/2012 at 23:23:46

Especially after PN's performance the other night.

Blake Watt
804 Posted 19/09/2012 at 23:35:30

Yeah... where is Junior? I thought the lad impressed in pre-season. But after thinking about this a lot, I agree that Reo-coker would be our best option. Although Hargreaves and Hitzlsberger can perform well, I think it is too much of a risk given their injuries!

Jimmy Sørheim
809 Posted 20/09/2012 at 00:12:40

This is positive stuff, I really hope Moyes takes a chance with him. The lad has had a bad spell at United and so did Owen, but I think the medical problems highlighted at United in the past by certain players seems to be true.

Owen Hargreaves is a no-brainer since he is on a free, he did get to play for City and he seems to be over the worst of his injury problems. However, I agree that a pay-as-you-play contract is wise, and should be used here.

Also, I do not see the need for a trial; just sign him and start working on his fitness right away, before another club takes him. In the free transfer market there is no better defensive central midfielders than this guy. I hope we sign him.

Keith Glazzard
812 Posted 20/09/2012 at 00:46:49

Michael - simple answer is we don't know. If fit, he could do a job in midfield. But the way a player like Gibson moves the ball around takes a load of experience, which Neville has, and vision, which he hasn't.

So until he's thrown into the fray, we have no idea what Junior will make of his (probably) undoubted talents.

I'm only going to mention Drenthe here because he had talents way above the average. And he got better on the field with us as his experience increased. More than that I don't know. And, believe me, I'm drawing no comparisons. But the link between skill, talent, potential and PL performance is a very long and often weak one.

Having said that, I hope he's thrown in, shines and becomes a legend. But I suspect that's not how the Canny Scot works.

Jim Hill
837 Posted 20/09/2012 at 08:32:25

What some people don't realise is that Hargreaves was fit last year, he just couldn't get into the City squad and can you hold that against him? He played over 20 times for Man City reserves last season and made 4 appearances for City – that's probably more gametime than will be expected from him at Goodison Park once Gibbo is fit again.

Moyes has a track record of getting the best out of players; if he could get two seasons out of Hargreaves at 50% of what he was, he'd make a difference to a midfield that's carrying Neville.

People saying we need to give our kids playing time need to remember what these lads have done with the opportunities given to them. Barkely is a great talent but he's failed to shine with the opportunities given notably against West Brom last year and he didn't look anything special against Orient which is why he's been farmed out to Sheff Wed to get more game time.

I'd have Hargreaves over Reo-Coker; one has talent, the other is a poor man's Lassana Diarra.

Drew O'Neall
839 Posted 20/09/2012 at 09:27:44

Reo-Coker is a distinctly average midfielder.

Hargreaves is an injury risk but assuming he has nothing better to do why not offer him a pay-as-you play only deal with no basic, once he proves his fitness by turning out for us for a few weeks he will get a transfer or earn a contract.. Win/win.

Hitzlesperger plays deep and has a bit of a long range shot on him in the Gibson mould and would probably be the best bet.

Kev Johnson
840 Posted 20/09/2012 at 09:30:19

If we got him, Hargreaves would look like a shrewd piece of business for... ooh, about 15 minutes. Then he would be injured and out of action for the rest of his Everton career. I'd rather we got Peter Reid out of retirement.

Martin Mason
841 Posted 20/09/2012 at 09:36:25

In the end I really warmed to Hargreaves, he was a bloody good player but for me it was based around his massive engine coupled to no little ability. I would guess that Moyes sees it only as a stop gap to cover Gibson until he can get one of the other players up to the required standard. It may be a good move and Moyes has a very good habit of making the right signings given the risks involved.

I'll trust him to do the right thing but mu own opinion is that this would be desperation.

Paul Smith
842 Posted 20/09/2012 at 09:44:19

I think for the time being we need to move Fellaini back into midfield and play Mirallas behind Victor with Naismith on the right. We cannot persist any longer with Neville in centre mid and I'm non-too fussed with Osman there as well. If we had to sign a player up I would have to go for Reo-Coker till January just because he is a bit more mobile than others mentioned.

Brian Waring
846 Posted 20/09/2012 at 10:07:59

He hasn't played for yonks, can't be match fit, so why bring him?

Sam Hoare
869 Posted 20/09/2012 at 12:16:52

What about Fernandes? Isn't he still milling around on a free somewhere? Can't be that old and surely worth at least looking into?

Trouble is with any of these players is that by the time they have settled and got match fit Gibson will probably be back anyway.

Such a shame we didn't get Ofoe on transfer deadline day. I reckon he could have been awesome. Hope we get him in January.

Chris Davies
871 Posted 20/09/2012 at 12:11:37

If only we'd brought Essien in...

Tony J Williams
874 Posted 20/09/2012 at 12:25:04

Fernandes is contracted to 2014, I see that "superstar" Drenthe is currently unemployed.

Mike Powell
896 Posted 20/09/2012 at 13:28:38

I don't really want any of the above mentioned but we will probably get one of them for cover. I would rather give Junior a chance and get Ofoe in January.

Craig Walker
899 Posted 20/09/2012 at 14:11:50

Can Hargreaves not make a video on YouTube or something to show us and Davey that he's not past it? He could maybe do some running on a treadmill or resistance training with weights. Just a thought.

Barry Rathbone
902 Posted 20/09/2012 at 16:05:08

Regarding Hargreaves a good player who'd fit in here but I'd of thought anywhere near what he was City would have kept him on - which suggests he ain't.

Danny Broderick
903 Posted 20/09/2012 at 16:25:15

I think Hitzlsberger is training with us at the moment.

Gavin Ramejkis
909 Posted 20/09/2012 at 17:07:41

Danny is there anything on the web about him being here, pics etc?

Peter Warren
954 Posted 20/09/2012 at 21:27:24

How about Barkley in midfield instead of wasting half a million we don't have

Mike Allison
970 Posted 20/09/2012 at 22:24:13

I still don't understand why we haven't signed a deal for Odjidja-Ofoe which begins as of 1st Jan.

Rich Lyons
218 Posted 22/09/2012 at 12:00:44

I have just two words (soz that's already 5, but you'll see what I mean): Paul Power... I reckon Hargreaves or Hitzlsperger have the potential. I have my doubts about Reo-Coker though.

Jason Lam
597 Posted 24/09/2012 at 09:59:25

Hargreaves is still being held in high regard by England fans especially here in Asia. He could just be the final piece to propel our brand in Thailand.

Kev Johnson
757 Posted 24/09/2012 at 21:48:56

I hope Moyes has stopped mulling now.

I don't mind a nice mull myself sometimes, but I'd never mull over Hargreaves.

Brent Stephens
761 Posted 24/09/2012 at 22:09:58

Kev#840 "If we got him, Hargreaves would look like a shrewd piece of business for... ooh, about 15 minutes. Then he would be injured and out of action for the rest of his Everton career".

Kev Johnson for Player-Manager-Club Doctor.

Sorry, Kev, I actually love your posts! Kev Johnson for Player-Manager-Club Doctor-Club Joker.

No, really, Kev, I do love your posts!

Add Your Comments

In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.

» Log in now

Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site.