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 demand a move and criticise his employers' persistent refusal to sanction one.

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

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 Alex Ferguson at United's training ground the morning after England's friendly against Greece. The saga could also have damaging repercussions for Hargreaves if he is forced to stay in Germany, given a notable hardening in the language of the club's hierarchy.

Senior officials at Bayern say they feel let down by Hargreaves and, in particular, his public declaration he wanted to move to Old Trafford, despite having recently signed a contract extension. They have forbidden him making further comment and reiterated he will not get his way.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Bayern's president, summed up that anger yesterday by saying United should now cease all interest in the 25-year-old. "Otherwise we will turn to Fifa," he told the Munich-based TZ newspaper. "The rules are that a club may contact a player only when the club holding his contract agrees to it."

United have run into similar trouble before, notably when they signed Ruud van Nistelrooy from PSV Eindhoven in April 2000. Of more immediate concern to Ferguson, however, is that Bayern have given no indication their position might alter before the transfer deadline tomorrow week. Ferguson had been led to believe last week there had been a breakthrough in the talks but Bayern seem to have decided they cannot afford to sell Hargreaves, even for 25 million, in a summer that has already seen them lose Michael Ballack on a free transfer to Chelsea.

"We have told Manchester United that they should stop trying to tempt Hargreaves," said Rummenigge. "We are not Hamburg, who decided to sell Khalid Boulahrouz (to Chelsea) the moment they had an offer for him. We are FC Bayern Munich, and we don't give in to anybody. At this club, it is the employer who decides what happens, not the employee."

Uli Hoeness, Bayern's general manager, was equally vehement: "Bayern Munich will never be taken for a ride and become weak at the knees as soon as a certain level of money is mentioned."

Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn says there is a "70-30" chance he will pass over the managerial reins to a "world-class manager" before the game with West Brom on Monday.

Last night, John Fitzgerald and Andy Bishop scored late goals for Bury, the Football League's bottom club, to knock Sunderland out of the English League Cup. Sunderland have lost all five games this season despite Quinn leading a successful takeover in the summer.

"I'll revert to chairman as soon as possible. I know my role is best here as chairman," said Quinn.