HARGREAVES SAGA PART 4,329

Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has threatened to report Manchester United to FIFA if they do not end their pursuit of Owen Hargreaves.

Bayern on Friday told United “in no uncertain terms” to end their interest in the midfielder.

However, even the 25-year-old England international himself has failed to accept the German club's decision not to listen to any offers.

Rummenigge has now reiterated Bayern's stance and warned United to steer clear, otherwise he could get world football's governing body involved.

“We have told Manchester United to drop their interest, or we will have to turn to FIFA,” he told Munich's Tz newspaper.

“A club can only contact a player when the club, who owns the player's registration, is in agreement.

“We are not Hamburg, who let Khalid Boulahrouz go at the first sign he wants out. We are FC Bayern.

“We do not just let anybody go - the employer decides here, not the employee.”

While the Guardian reports

Owen Hargreaves will today attempt to put his case for a move to Manchester United after Bayern Munich threatened to appeal to Fifa to force the Old Trafford club to end their pursuit of the England midfielder. Hargreaves and his advisors have arranged a press briefing in Munich this afternoon at which he is expected to both demand a move and criticise his current employers' persistent refusal to sanction one.

United's progress with the Canada-born player has ground to a halt in recent days with Bayern refusing to even discuss selling him. But Hargreaves, who still has four years left to run on his contract at the Allianz Arena, is now more determined than ever to move to Manchester.

Hargreaves was left out of Bayern's squad for the 2-1 Bundesliga defeat to Bochum on Sunday, officially because of a virus, and was then omitted for a friendly against Barcelona on Monday.

Bayern's determination to involve Fifa has been fuelled by reports of Hargreaves having face-to-face talks with Sir Alex Ferguson at United's training ground the morning after England's friendly against Greece. The saga could also have damaging repercussions for Hargreaves's standing at Bayern if he is forced to stay in Germany, with a notable hardening in the language used by the club's hierarchy.