michael-owen

Sir Alex Ferguson has proved an astute player in the transfer market during his time at Old Trafford. Eric Cantona, Peter Schmeichel and even Cristiano Ronaldo signed for relatively small fees. But this summer’s acquisition of Michael Owen on a free transfer from Newcastle United could prove  his most outrageous signing yet.

When supporters appealed for Sir Alex to “sign up” Carlos Tevez on a permanent basis few could have predicted that Owen would walk through Old Trafford’s doors in his stead. But the £25 million fee demanded by Tevez’ owners towards the tail end of last season, together with Owen’s non-contract status at Newcastle, made the deal a no-brainer.

A simple review of the statistics said as much. Tevez scored just 15 goals last season. Owen already has four this, the same number as Manchester City’s new recruit. Owen’s current strike-rate of a goal every game and a half on the pitch mean the forward will hit 15 by the season’s end. Aside from the Argentinian’s tenacity, United has missed little about the former West Ham United striker this campaign.

Many supporters were rightly concerned about Owen’s record of injuries. The former-Liverpool striker has lost a couple of yards of pace but has improved in other areas. Like Ryan Giggs before him, Owen has adapted to his advancing years and concentrated on the aspects of his game that don’t rely on the sheer pace of his youth.

Critics will point to the chances that Owen still misses, including two against Everton last weekend. But this does not detract from those that the England international has put away. The forward’s strike against City in United’s 4-3 derby victory was nothing short of World class. And of the strikers at Ferguson’s disposal, only Rooney is more reliable in front of goal when the big chance arrives.

Owen also recognises the opportunity he has been given by Sir Alex, despite spending much of the campaign warming the bench.

“I’ve played in a team that was struggling and I much prefer a winning club, even if it means I don’t play every minute of every game,” Owen said recently.

“I’ve had my fair share of starts and minutes on the pitch this season so I’m not about to complain.”

Although Owen is unlikely to make the England squad that travels to South Africa for the World Cup, his chances are still best served at United. While Jermaine Defoe and Darren Bent have scored more goals this season – and each has a fighting chance of being on Fabio Capello’s list – Owen’s confidence and fitness will increase throughout the season. If Owen hadn’t moved to United this summer, England would be a long forgotten dream.

United fans care little for England of course. But as soon as the Chester-born forward netted against City, Old Trafford’s faithful accept him. Forget the shirts of the past, the here and now is what matters for supporters and Owen alike.

“Scoring the derby winner was really special,” Owen said.

“When I retire and I’m thinking about my top five or six thrills I got out of football, I’ll think about my goal against Argentina and scoring two in an FA Cup final (against Arsenal in 2001).

“But scoring that goal against City is right up there.”

It was a moment that will define Owen’s time at United. The instant in which Owen – former Liverpool striker – became part of the club for the first time.

While Liverpool fans have offered Owen some abuse it has been no more so than in the player’s five years away from Anfield. Almost any fan would agree, Owen’s move to United was the right one for the player. A transfer that just a few years ago would have been unthinkable.

How would Owen’s career have progressed if the youngster had taken up Sir Alex’ contract offer at 14? There’s a good argument to say he would not only have been close to being England’s record goalscorer, but perhaps United’s too.

Manchester United striker Michael Owen will miss just one game – at home to Sunderland this weekend – after a scan revealed his groin injury is not as bad as feared. Former England striker Owen limped out of Wednesday’s 2-1 Champions League win over Wolfsburg after 20 minutes, with Sir Alex Ferguson claiming the player faced three weeks on the sidelines. But news from Owen’s scan today has allayed those fears.

“We expect him to be available for the game against Bolton, he certainly won’t be out for three weeks,” said United manager Ferguson, whose team faces Bolton on 17 October.

“It is understandable we wanted to take precautions given his past history. We are quite pleased and are quite comfortable with the situation.

“He did miss training earlier this week so maybe we should have left him out. But he wanted to play and I wanted him to play. Thankfully it is not a big problem for us,” Ferguson added.

Meanwhile Ferguson added in his Friday press conference that both ‘keeper Edwin van der Sar and right-back Rafael Da Silva are close to full fitness. With Owen Hargreaves back in training, Sir Alex will have just new signing Gabriel Obertan troubling the physio.

Michael Owen will miss three weeks after limping out of tonight’s Champions League match with VfL Wolfsburg. The striker, forced out of the game with a groin injury after 17 minutes, started United’s 2 – 1 victory at Old Trafford. The former Liverpool player had missed training earlier this week having felt the same injury.

“Groin injuries are difficult to say. He could be out two or three weeks,” said United boss Sir Alex Ferguson after tonight’s win.

“His fitness levels are good so we shouldn’t need to worry too much about it. We will treat it as a normal groin injury.

“He felt his groin after training on Sunday and he trained a little bit on Monday but had a rest day on Tuesday and he thought he was fine.

Owen, who has fought a reputation for being injury prone after appearing in just 71 match for Newcastle in four years at the club, was desperate to make his first European start for the club.

However, the injury may offer Danny Welbeck or Federico Macheda an opportunity to feature against Sunderland next weekend.

Former United midfielder Nicky Butt had a key role to play in the transfer of Michael Owen to Manchester United this summer, according to the former Liverpool star. Interviewed in The Times, Owen says that United manager Sir Alex Ferguson contacted Newcastle United’s Butt for an assessment on the former England striker’s form and fitness.

“I was at a dead end but I thought, A road will open up. I just know it will. It has to. Surely it has to,” said Owen of the end of his days at Newcastle United.

“Surely there is someone who needs a striker that can score goals, who has done it in the Premiership.”

Ferguson called the 2001 Ballon d’Or winner to invite him round for a chat, having already made up his mind that Owen would be offered a contract at United.

“The manager’s voice is pretty distinctive, so I knew it wasn’t a wind-up,” said Owen.

“Ferguson told me, ‘We are looking for a striker. I’m going to be up front, we went for Benzema and once that was a no-go we looked around for players who are going to score goals.'”

“‘Obviously the big question is if you are fit, but if you are and we can get plenty of games’, then words to the effect that it’s a no-brainer.

“‘Anyway, there’s no point in talking on the phone, we’ll chat about it tomorrow if you are free and fancy coming round.'”

But Owen, who has played at Real Madrid, Liverpool and Newcastle United, turned up at Ferguson’s house with few expectations of signing for United. Out of contract at relegated Newcastle, only Stoke City, Hull City and Everton showed any interest in the striker.

“I had a few butterflies before I went there,” said Owen.

“I listened more than I talked, which I thought was pretty wise. He said, ‘I know what has happened over the past few years, I know you haven’t lost anything, you are only 29, for crying out loud.'”

“I wasn’t sure if we were just going to chat, but then I realised, ‘Oh my God, he definitely wants to sign me!’ ”

Whisper it quietly but former Dipper hero Michael Owen might just prove to be one of Sir Alex Ferguson’s most shrewd acquisitions if the striker’s pre-season form is anything to go by. While Owen’s move to United has been met with no little sceptism by United fans – not least on this site – the player seems ready to ram that criticism back down the throats of even the most ardent of doubters.

Owen, who has scored four goals in as many games on the tour to Malaysia, Korea and China, has looked fit and sharp in his four matches to date.

“This tour is not the acid test, but given Michael’s ability and understanding of play around the last third, I think he will be getting goals and things are looking good for us in that position,” said Ferguson after the recent 8-2 victory over Hangzhou in China.

“His contribution in overall play is suited to us. He is very clever in the last third and knows when to run and when to hold runs. That, linked with the experience he gives in that position, will be good for us.”

Owen is likely to be paired with Wayne Rooney – a partnership that was not tested in Asia – for the Audi Cup against Boca Juniors and Bayern Munich or AC Milan in Germany later this week. While the pair rarely seemed to click at international level, Owen’s best chance of regular football may be to turn that around during the coming season.

Owen will no doubt have been surprised by the rapturous reception he received across Asia. He is one of England’s most ‘marketable products’ – a point emphasised in the embarrassing brochure developed by his PR team ahead of the move to United. But the hero worship that Owen received in Asia is unlikely to be replicated at Old Trafford by a public who remember the forward’s attempts to garrotte Ronny Johnsen at Old Trafford in 1998. It’s an antipathy that Ferguson is unlikely to have taken into account when signing Owen and handing the player the coveted number seven shirt.

“I am not concerned with what supporters think,” he said. “The important thing is to give the shirt to someone who is confident to carry it and Michael is the natural one to get it.”

With Best, Robson, Cantona and Ronaldo having donned the number seven shirt, Owen undoubtedly has a lot to live up to. Something that United legend Ryan Giggs believes Owen will fulfill.

“Michael is just proving what we all know: that he is a great goalscorer. He’s a poacher who scores all types of goals – headers, tap-ins and then a great volley [against Hangzhou]. They have all come from inside the box and that’s where he does his work. That’s where he comes alive.

“The manager says that he provides something that we haven’t got. The good thing about Michael over the years is that if he misses a chance, it doesn’t bother him one bit. Some players go into a shell if they miss, but it doesn’t bother him because he knows he’s going to get another chance. Coming here has given him a new lease of life.”

The pressure will be on the Scouser to make-up some of the 41 goals scored by Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez last season. But Federico Macheda and Dimitar Berbatov were also excellent in Asia, and United supporters’ concern about whether the team will score enough goals this season may be easing.

Berbatov especially appeared to strike up an instant understanding with Owen in China. The Bulgarian’s sublime flick for Owen’s second goal was a timely reminder of just how much talent the former Tottenham forward has to offer.

Where do you turn if two high profile attacking players leave and your number one transfer target heads elsewhere? You get out the cheque book and spend some of your £100 million summer transfer budget. Right? Wrong! In fact, you fall further into your dystopian nightmare in which public rejection, is followed by public humiliation. Get out the stocks – it’s time to become a public laughing stock.

In this footballing torment, you might even bring in a washed up, ageing ‘striker’ who hasn’t scored a goal in six months, with an injury record that reads broken metatarsal, knee ligament damage, double hernia operation, thigh strain and countless hamstring strains. Then you wake up and fall to your knees in prayer. Say it ain’t so. Michael Owen signs for Manchester United!

But it is so and manager Sir Alex Ferguson is known to be a long time fan of Owen. Indeed, the boss tried has to sign the player three times – first aged 14 in 1994, second on his return from Real Madrid in 2005, and then again a year later before the player suffered a serious knee injury at the World Cup in Germany.

Owen may be only 29, but his footballing peak was 11 full years ago, with that goal against Argentina in Saint-Etienne. His record at Newcastle isn’t bad in a poor team  – the former Liverpool player made 79 appearances for the Barcodes and scored 30 goals in four seasons. But his last league goal was on 10 January against West Ham, and his form so poor that friend Alan Shearer even dropped him from the Toon team in their desperate fight against relegation last season. His star has fallen so far that Hull and Stoke were apparently fighting it out for his signature, while Wigan and Blackburn publicly questioned the player’s bottle and ability.

In fact, anybody who followed Owen over the closing months will have seen a striker stripped of all his pace, confidence and desire. Without that there is little left of value in the player. Yet, Sir Alex has moved quickly following the failure to sign Olympique Lyonnais’ Karim Benzema, in a move that smacks of total desperation.

Let’s hope that Owen, even if fit, will be little more than an experienced insurance policy against injuries to Wayne Roony or Dimitar Berbatov. Most United fans would prefer to trust in the youth of Danny Welbeck and Federico Macheda. More worrying still is what the signing says about Wayne Rooney’s hopes of playing a central role for United next season. In Sir Alex’ prefered 4-2-3-1 system, there’s little room for both unless the younger Scouser is once again pushed towards the wing.

Ferguson’s stock is high, of course, but ultimately United supporters will find it hard to forgive Owen’s Liverpool loving history. A vociferously celebrated winning goal at the Kop End would be a good start.