Manchester City Transfer Rumours: Owen Hargreaves Close to Shock Deal

Former Manchester United and Bayern Munich midfielder Owen Hargreaves, whose struggles with injuries have seen him make just 26 starts in four years at United, is close to a shock transfer to title contenders Manchester City.

According to The Guardian, the midfielder has had a medical in Manchester after being strongly linked with a move to West Bromwich Albion. 

The 30-year-old, who is a free agent having been released from United in the summer, was offered a contract at the Midlands club but has opted to join Roberto Mancini's men, as it represents a great opportunity to fight for a place in the England team and City are, of course, competing in the Champions League and look set to challenge for the Premier League title.

The move is a bizarre one considering the wealth of talent that City already possess in midfield, especially since the signing of Samir Nasri last week and the fact that Hargreaves is far from certain to be capable of remaining healthy for a long period of time.

But Hargreaves is confident in his ability to maintain his fitness, having famously released videos on the Internet of himself training as proof of his fitness.

Having previously been linked with that move to West Brom but also to Tottenham and Aston Villa, it appears that Hargreaves is going to join the rivals of his last club in a bid to resurrect his career.

Despite the obvious injury concern, it is clear that City aren't taking too much of a risk in signing Hargreaves, mainly because his status as a free agent will mean that there will be no transfer fee and it is unlikely that Hargreaves will demand a large wage (not that City have any financial trouble), having offered to play for United for free last season.

And although Hargreaves has proven that he is a great midfielder when healthy, it is still surprising to see him go to Roberto Mancini's side.