On 22 May 2011, Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed that the club would not offer Hargreaves a new contract. His contract expired at the end of the 2010–11 season and he left the club, despite offering to play the 2011–12 season for free. Hargreaves later posted videos on YouTube of him exercising, in order to prove his fitness to potential clubs. Buoyed by Richard Steadman's optimistic assessment that Hargreaves' knees, a source of injury for a number of years, could withstand the impact of 'jumping from the Eiffel Tower', a number of clubs including Bolton Wanderers Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City, West Bromwich Albion, Nottingham Forest Queens Park Rangers, Rangers, and "several MLS clubs", were believed to be considering an offer for Hargreaves.