Who will want Michael Owen?

A player who divides opinions amongst fans is Michael Owen. Not many people would deny that at his best, Owen was a world class striker. Forty goals in eighty-nine games for England speak for themselves.

Now, the twenty-nine year old striker is looking to move on from relegated Newcastle and is hopeful of finding a position with a top Premier League club.

“I don’t think I’m going to be re-signing at Newcastle and I would prefer to play in the Premier League or a top division somewhere else. I’m still a Newcastle player but it will only be for a matter of weeks. There are plenty of clubs who would interest me but we will see where that is, whether that’s home or abroad. There has been a lot of interest from abroad and quite a bit from at home as well. Obviously, the Premier League is where I feel I belong. I played a year out in Spain and enjoyed it at Real Madrid but it definitely confirmed to me that I prefer the Premier League. So if it was to be a good English club, that would be my preference but I have had quite a lot of interest from abroad, so I wouldn’t rule that out.”

One man keen to bring Michael Owen to his club is Hull manager Phil Brown. Whether Hull can be classed as a ‘top’ Premier League club is open to question, but so is the premise that a ‘bigger’ club will want to sign him. Phil Brown said,

“I would think he has a number of offers and we’ll have to be competitive. We’ll speak to him within a week. I wouldn’t sit down with him if I thought I was wasting my time. I don’t think Michael will go for the best financial offer, I don’t think it’s about that for him at this stage of his career, he’ll want the best offer for his future. He needs to spend a high percentage of next season’s games at the highest possible level and that’s where we can come in. There has been a lot of documentation about injuries and being unable to fulfil contracts because he can’t get on the field of play. But as far as I’m concerned, with a good pre-season under his belt, he’s still a quality player.”

The announcement that Owen would be leaving Newcastle was hardly a shock as the club need to cut expenses following relegation and Owen is reportedly earning more than £100,000 a week.

His time at Newcastle has been plagued by injury. The knee ligament injury he sustained at the 2006 World Cup was the major problem but he has also had a broken metatarsal, a thigh problem and a double hernia operation.

Bad news

In fact, in his four seasons at St James’ Park he has made just seventy-nine appearances. That is the bad news for potential buyers but the good news is that his goal scoring record is still good with thirty goals in those games.

Owen’s total career record shows a remarkable two hundred and four goals in four hundred and eighteen games. Despite being a great record it is noticeable that from his first appearance back in 1997 he regularly scored more than a goal every other game up until the 2002-03 season at Liverpool. Since that season, he has failed to reach that sort of form although he did score seven in eleven when he first arrived at Newcastle.

A look at the individual honours he has won is impressive. Twice Premier League top scorer, PFA young player of the year, BBC Sports personality of the year and the coveted Ballon d’Or. Unfortunately, the last of those awards was given back in 2001.

Great goal

Nobody can ever take away from Michael Owen that great goal for England against Argentina at the 1998 World Cup, the fact that he has scored in two world cups, the fact he has scored in two European Championships, the wonderful hat-trick for England in their 5-1 win in Germany or the fact that for many years he was England’s best striker.

The question is whether Michael Owen still has anything to offer one of the top teams. I fear that he may not but it would be silly to write him off totally. Maybe we should remember the old adage that form is temporary, class is permanent.