10 Most Expensive Man Utd Transfer Flops In History

5. Owen Hargreaves (£17 Million)

Owen Hargreaves, England
John Walton/EMPICS Sport

Owen Hargreaves was the best ball-winning English midfielder of his generation, and the energetic Champions League winner was one of the greatest midfielders in world football for a spell.

Unfortunately for Hargreaves, said spell would soon come to a crashing holt due to the sheer number of injuries the player began to amass.

In an international sense, the 2006 World Cup was huge for the then-Bayern Munich player. Hargreaves fired back at the lazy naysayers who dismissed his place in the England squad for the simple fact that he played in the Bundesliga and wasn't on their TV screens every weekend.

Just after that World Cup, though, the midfielder suffered a major leg break. Still, 2007 saw Sir Alex Ferguson stump up £17 million for Hargreaves.

There's no doubting that Owen Hargreaves was fantastic for the Red Devils... when he was fit.

To look at the cold, hard facts, 34 of Hargreaves' 39 United appearances came in the first season of his four-season stint at Old Trafford.

After failed comeback after failed comeback, the painful decision was made to allow Owen Hargreaves' contract to run out in 2011 - meaning he represented a £17 million loss for the Manchester club.

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