Bayern firm on Hargreaves
Afp, Munich
Bayern Munich have emphasised that their England international midfielder Owen Hargreaves will not be joining Manchester United or anyone else in the winter break, saying they need him to challenge for the Bundesliga and Champions League crowns. The 25-year-old Hargreaves has used the press to try and pressurise Bayern into letting him join Manchester United -- who have already had a 25 million euro bid snubbed -- but Bayern want the midfielder to help them achieve this season's aims. "Nothing is going to happen in the winter break," general manager Uli Hoeness said on the club's homepage. "We are facing Real Madrid in the Champions League so we do not want to weaken our team. We are a football club not a bank. "We have to look how we can strengthen the team. What use is an additional 30 million euros in the bank? We want to go far in the Champions League and catch Bremen and Schalke in the league -- we need Owen Hargreaves to do that." However Hoeness did admit that Hargreaves, contracted until June 2010, could be sold in the future if a replacement could be found for the right price. "If at some point we think we have a replacement for Owen who costs less then perhaps we will think about it," Hoeness added. Hargreaves has not played since September 16 when he broke his leg in Bayern's 2-1 defeat to Arminia Bielefeld.
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