Michael Owen Lands On His Feet At Manchester United
The fact few Newcastle United fans are sorry to see the back of him speaks volumes for how his time at Newcastle United has come to be perceived, yet still Michael Owen has managed to emerge from the whole stinking mess smelling of roses.
If Owen, as expected, completes a free transfer move to Manchester United it will be one of the most remarkable pieces of transfer business since, erm, let me think, Newcastle signed him from Real Madrid for £16.5m four years ago.
The papers have been fall of it this summer - no not that - how Manchester United are only going to sign players under the age of 26. Yet here they are, preparing the final touches to sign a 29-year-old with the highest profile injury reputation in the domestic game.
Like everyone else, I didn't see this coming at all, I thought Michael would end up at Everton, but on reflection it isn't that surprising.
He will cost Manchester United nothing, other than wages and I'm sure his deal will have plenty of clauses in which will amount to a modest basic wage - by his standards - and more attached to appearances and goals.
Given Owen's tendency to pick up knocks and strains the transfer is a risk by Manchester United, but it is a risk they can afford for a player who, despite everything, still has a goals-per-game record of roughly one every other game
Whereas most top flight clubs would use Owen as their main striker, Manchester United can afford to use him as a squad player. They have plenty of options in attack and if Owen is injured there is more than adequate cover for him in the squad.
It is a calculated gamble by Sir Alex Ferguson, but one he knows he can make because of the strength in depth he has at Old Trafford. No other manager in the Premier League has the chips stacked in his favour quite like Fergie.
As for Michael, he will be thrilled to bits, particularly as he intended to join Manchester United after his first season at St James's Park only for his knee to collapse at the World Cup in Germany.
He has been mocked and criticised more than ever over the last 12 months and there did seem to be something rather desperate about that 32-page brochure his management produced to advertise their client's wares.
But, as has been so often the case in his career, it looks as though Michael will have the last laugh. At 29, in theory, there is plenty of football left in those battered legs and he has joined the reigning Premier League champions who will be among the favourites to win the Champions League again.
Newcastle fans should probably just be glad they won't have to face him next season because you can bet your last pound shilling he would have scored against them!
Older/Newer
« Newcastle vs Sunderland in 2018 | More To Life Than Winning (and takeovers) »
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Michael Owen Lands On His Feet At Manchester United.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.lukewhostalking.co.uk/cgi-bin/mt421/mt-tb.cgi/137701
8 Comments
Leave a comment
Blog Authors
Luke Edwards - is Chief Sports Writer of The Journal and uses his blog to give a unique and entertaining insight into events at Newcastle United and Sunderland.
I wish him the best of luck. True his stay at Newcastle wasn't what we hoped for and he shouldn't have gone to the world cup to compound his injury problems, but if he had been playing in a team and not with a bunch of narcissists, I'm sure we would have seen more of the Michael Owen that Man U fans are going to see next season. His goals/game ratio is still excellent.
is the above guy for real. This guy bled our club dry and was the poster boy for everything that was wrong with Newcastle. Owen to me is past it, and the only crumb of comfort is that he is going to display his diminished talent at a team I hate as much as Scumderland.
Look at his documentary he did a while back whilst getting fit for the world cup "The club have hired me a personal trainer, I'm the type of guy who if asked to do 10 press ups, will do nine if the trainer isn't lookin"! The guy was on £120k per week. He is an embarassment, I hope he fails badly at Old Trafford and misses out on the World Cup, though lets not be surprised if he stays injury free next season. Good Riddance Michael, you are NOT welcome back!
Agree totally with JC.
Glad to see the back of this scouse leech.
good riddance! he is a grasping ,greedy mercenary who will hope that rooney carries him. some hope.
Glad he's gone - just can't believe he's ended up a decent club. He'll no doubt score more for them with so much put on a plate for him, and knowing our luck he'll stay fit for them too.
It's nice how he summed up the £40m he cost us as "a poor spell". Cheers Michael, you're welcome I'm sure. Enjoy the stables we paid for.
The only reason that Man Utd would take Owen is that they have figured out they can make money by loaning him out to an MLS side and sell lots of replica shirts in the USA.
The comforting thing for NUFC fans is that there is zero chance that he will ever play a future league game against them. Chances of Owen playing in South Africa are also nil.
The thing that puzzles me about comment above from JC et al is why they particularly label Owen greedy instead on also mentioning the rest of the dressing room dross. Or perhaps vent anger at Shearer who also was rather well paid for achieving absolutely nothing.
I know Owen had the excuse of "not getting the service", but cast your minds back to the second half of a crucial match against Portsmouth at SJP in April.
The ball ran very nicely for Owen, and with only David James to beat, he hit the tamest shot straight at the 'keeper. A world-class striker wouldn't have missed that.
It does surprise me that he's landed on hids feet, I just hope Capello overlooks him for the World Cup, because that's all he's intersted in. If he had any loyalty, he might have given us another season that he owes us, or he at least would have joined someone other than Liverpool's bitter rivals.
On another note, I am sick of listening to Mackems crow about how wonderful they are and how we're never going to play them again (M. Sebastian T. above), but if we don't get some kind of leadership hierachy sorted in the next couple of weeks, I fear they may be right.
We've drawn a line under the BIGGEST waste of money we've ever had and now it's time to ensure our proud history does not become just that......
Owen looked like someone who had forgotten to put lottery on this week and the winning numbers came up, and finding out his mam had put his numbers on for him! The lucky get.