'I held private talks with Man Utd boss - but his surprising request felt disrespectful'

Sir Alex Ferguson left Owen Hargreaves feeling uneasy when he offered to make him a cup of tea. Former England international Hargreaves was signed by Ferguson for Manchester United in a £17million deal from Bayern Munich in July 2007.

Speaking on Hargreaves recalled how Gary Neville first broke the news to him that Ferguson wanted to sign him. "So, I remember Gary was the first one to call me after the World Cup. He was like, 'Boss wants to sign you, do you want to come to Man United?' I was like, 'Yeah, if we can make it work,'" he said.

When asked about conversations with Ferguson, he added: "Yeah, of course. Do you know what, I remember one of the coolest things was... because it's quite surreal, all those things you know? We all have a poker face, right? So you're just reading it as you go.

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"I remember he said, 'Oh, do you want a cup of tea?' and I remember thinking, 'I can't let him make me a cup of tea, it feels disrespectful.' So I was trying to like get in the mix, but I didn't want to p*** him off either.

"It was cool that he had acknowledged you as a player and wanted you to be a part...See, I remember he said to me, 'You can help us win the Champions League,' and I said, 'Yeah, boss, that's why I'm here.'"

It's evident that the now 44-year-old held Ferguson in high regard before joining Manchester United, given the Scot's impressive record of nine Premier League titles, five FA Cups, two League Cups and a Champions League trophy with the Red Devils prior to Hargreaves' arrival.

Hargreaves played a significant role in United's Premier League triumph in his debut season at Old Trafford, making 23 appearances in the English top flight, three in the FA Cup, and eight in the Champions League, reports the Manchester Evening News.

However, the remainder of his time in the North West was fraught with difficulties. From 2008 to 2011, Hargreaves only managed to play four more games for Manchester United due to a series of injuries, which eventually led him to join cross-town rivals Manchester City.

Knee troubles kept him out of action for 573 days between 2008 and 2010, while thigh problems in 2010/11 saw him miss an additional 148 days. Despite having high expectations for his stint with the Cityzens after signing a one-year deal, he only made four appearances for the club before being released in 2012.

And although City clinched the Premier League title that season, Hargreaves left without a winners' medal due to insufficient game time. Ferguson, on the other hand, continued to manage Manchester United until 2013, when David Moyes took over.

Despite having a host of top-tier managers since then, including Jose Mourinho and Louis van Gaal, none have managed to replicate the golden era that the legendary Scot presided over during his 27-year tenure. Ruben Amorim is the most recent manager to take charge at Old Trafford.

He stepped in after Erik ten Hag was sacked last November following a string of disappointing performances at the start of his third season at the reins. With a squad largely not of his own making, Amorim could only steer United to a 15th-place finish in the Premier League table last season, but he will hope for better fortunes this time around after receiving full support from the board this summer.

The 40-year-old has brought in several new faces, including Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko, and will be hoping they can provide the goal-scoring prowess his team lacked last season. But with one win, one draw and one defeat from his first three matches, Amorim will be looking for more consistency going forward when United return to Premier League action on Sunday to face City in the Manchester derby.

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