The 25-year-old, who suffered a broken leg on September 17, resumed full training on Monday and has set his sights on a return to action shortly after the Bundesliga restarts next week following its winter break.

"I'm increasing my programme day-to-day so when I've been training for a week or two I'll probably play a half," Hargreaves told the BBC.

"It was good to train and get the football boots on again and it was nice to train with the team-mates after being out for four months. It's a different atmosphere training on your own and being injured.

"If things progress I'll be playing my first game in the near future."

Hargreaves is United's top transfer target and Bayern President Franz Beckenbauer suggested earlier this month that he would be allowed to leave if the English club came up with a transfer fee in the region of 30 million euros.

The player himself has stated his desire to move to Old Trafford but would not be drawn on whether a deal could yet go through before the transfer window closes on January 31.

"There is lots of speculation but I am just getting ready to go training and not focusing on other stuff," he said.

Hargreaves, one of England's few successes at the World Cup in Germany last summer, is unlikely to be fit enough to feature in his national squad for their next match, a friendly against Spain at Old Trafford on February 7.