Manchester United leave Bebé and Owen Hargreaves out of Champions League squad

Posted Sunday, September 05, 2010 by theguardian.com

Manchester United leave Bebé and Owen Hargreaves out of Champions League squad
Bébé, right, competes for the ball with Kyle Walker during the Under-21 European Championship qualifier between England and Portugal.

Manchester United have omitted Owen Hargreaves and Bebé from their Champions League squad – announced tonight – in a clear sign from Sir Alex Ferguson that neither player will be feature prominently with the team for the rest of the year.

Hargreaves has been left out on grounds of fitness; a decision that indicates Ferguson does not anticipate the injury-troubled midfielder will recover from his long-standing knee problems in the next few months. United's final group match is against Valencia on 7 December.

Bebé is a more complex case, having signed from Vitória Guimarães on 11 August for £7.4m without Ferguson ever having seen him play. United's manager had relied on recommendations before arranging a deal for the 20-year-old, but it has since become apparent to the club's coaching staff that the Portuguese is a long way from challenging for the first team and will need more work on the training ground than had been previously anticipated.

The bigger concern, however, is Hargreaves.Two and a half years of knee problems and a relapse this summer has seen him return to Colorado for specialist work with a rehabilitation team overseen by Dr Richard Steadman, who is renowned as the best knee surgeon in the business. Steadman has described the tendinitis in Hargreaves's knees as the worst he has seen in his 35-year career, and there are serious concerns at Old Trafford that the player's career is in jeopardy, at the age of 29.

Hargreaves was included in United's official squad for the Premier League but that was simply because the size of Ferguson's squad meant there was no need to leave him out. Bebé is also available for United's league matches but is not even on the club's B list for the Champions League because Uefa stipulate this is only available to players who have been at their club for two years or longer.

Ferguson, who has also left out Ritchie De Laet, had angrily denied reports that Bebé had been left out of a Manchester Senior Cup tie 10 days ago because the coaches had misgivings after watching him on the training ground. The manager argued it was simply a fitness issue, even though Anderson played in the same match after a six-month injury layoff, and despite the fact Bebé had already played six pre-season matches in Portugal.

The maximum number of players officially allowed in a Champions League squad is 25, but as United have only named 24, more questions about the strange circumstances of Bebé's transfer will be asked.

The forward made his debut for Portugal's Under-21s in their 1-0 defeat to England on Friday night and played the full match.