Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves is flying to the United States to visit Dr Richard Steadman, the renowned knee specialist.

A course of injections has done nothing to free Hargreaves of an injury that, in April, he claimed he might never be rid of, and, after visits to specialists in Sweden and London over the past ten days failed to provide any fresh answers, United decided to send the 27-year-old to Colorado to see Dr Steadman as fears grow for his future at Old Trafford.

"We have been trying to manage the situation, but we haven't been able to come up with an answer," Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, said. "Owen has been frustrated and patient, but we have never really got to the bottom of his problem. We need to speed that up now, which is why we have sent him to the best available people in order to get a general opinion about where we go from here."