United Register European Squad; Hargo’s Shiny New Knees to be Unveiled?

By: Taylor Rockwell | September 2nd, 2009

Manchester United registered a total of 35 players for their upcoming Champions League campaign, and (in a move that will have roughly 95% of the people that frequent this page breathe a bit easier) Owen Hargreaves is on the list.

Hargreaves has been sidelined for approximately 36 years, and is currently rehabilitating in the United States following a surgery aimed at curing his reoccurring knee tendinitis. I don’t know if including him actually means anything or is in any way affiliated with his current progress, but it definitely means that Fergie is confident that Hargo will play some sort of role this season (a statement which, sadly, many people never thought very likely). Hargreaves isn’t due back at Carrington until September 23, and will therefore miss United’s first Champions League class with reigning Turkish champion Besiktas.

It’s feasible that Hargo could make it onto the team list for the September 30th clash with German champion Wolfsburg, but a delayed arrival (perhaps against CSKA on November 3) seems more likely. I must admit, I’m going to take this news with a big grain of salt. Has there ever been a case of an athlete completely making a 100% recovery from major knee surgery and never having problems again? More than any other injury (save for the one posted below), knee problems tend to send footballers down a downward spiral.

I am a very competitive person, and I generally hate being wrong. I die a little bit every time one of you points out a spelling/grammatical/factual error. And yet, this time, I hope I am wrong. I would love nothing more than to see Hargreaves return to greatness and stamp out any lingering concerns about our midfield strength. I just don’t really see it happening. Ah well…

Here’s the full registered squad list (from the official site):

1.Van der Sar, 2.Neville, 3.Evra, 4.Hargreaves, 5.Ferdinand, 6.Brown, 7.Owen, 9.Berbatov, 10.Rooney, 11.Giggs, 12.Foster, 13.Park, 15.Vidic, 16.Carrick, 17.Nani, 18.Scholes, 20.Fabio, 21.Rafael, 22.O’Shea, 24.Fletcher, 25.Valencia, 26.Obertan, 27.Macheda, 28.Gibson, 29.Kuszczak.

Additional players registered*: 8.Anderson, 19.Welbeck, 23.J.Evans, 31.C.Evans, 33.Hewson, 36.Gray, 37.Cathcart, 38.Zieler, 39.Chester, 40.Amos.

*UEFA rules permit any player born on or after 1 January 1988 who has been eligible to play for the club for any uninterrupted period of two years since his 15th birthday to be registered outside of the 25-man squad limit.