Has Michael Owen still got it?
He has scored 40 goals in under 90 England appearances. He has scored 217 in just over 450 games throughout his career. His skill as a player has allowed him to pull on some of the most famous kits in the game, whether that be the red of Liverpool and Manchester United, or the black and white stripes of Newcastle United, or even the hallowed all-white strip of Real Madrid.
But now it seems that Michael Owen may need to send out another much mocked brochure to find himself another club, as, partly because of the lightning quick emergence of Javier Hernandez, it looks increasingly unlikely that he will get a new deal at Old Trafford. His quality as a finisher has never been in doubt, but his fitness has always held him back ever since he returned to England from the bright lights of the Bernabéu. This, as well as his age, he’s 31 now, will surely limit the clubs that are willing to take him on.
Owen has already said that he will refuse to drop down leagues, and he is also reluctant to play in a team that is battling against relegation, as he did with Newcastle in 2008. This is surely because his style of play suits a team that are going to create a number of chances in a match, so that he can work mainly in the box, as opposed to chasing down lost causes and hassling defenders.
This must limit his choices to teams who will have ambitions of Europe next season which leads us onto the choice he will have available. Both Manchester City and Chelsea are likely to spend big in the summer so are unlikely to be interested in a 31 year old free agent, so an obvious option would seem to be Liverpool. The team that raised him and made him into a Ballon d’Or winner are having a resurgence and rebuild under Kenny Dalglish, and the opportunity to work under an Anfield legend, as well as playing alongside friends Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher may be too hard to resist. But whether King Kenny will let Owen join his Anfield revolution remains to be seen, especially when considering his focus on bringing through youth.
Another option would be Liverpool’s city rivals, and Owen’s boyhood team, Everton. David Moyes has struggled to find a 20 goal a season striker for years and maybe Owen could be the solution to this problem. But would Owen be able to betray Liverpool and go to another one of their archrivals?
Title chasing Arsenal could be a perfect fit as the England man would bring much needed experience to Arsene Wenger’s young squad, and the Gunners rely on Robin Van Persie far too often to provide the goals. But with the manager’s much maligned “over 30’s” policy a 1 year deal would be the only thing likely to be on offer, which may put Owen off.
Teams such as Aston Villa and Sunderland could be an interesting option, with Sunderland’s team suiting a penalty box poacher as they proved with Darren Bent and Villa having Owen’s former Liverpool boss in Gérard Houllier, but neither have stayed completely clear of the relegation battle this season, which would surely put him off.
There is a good chance that attack minded Tottenham Hotspur will be in the market for a striker come the summer, with uncertainty over the futures of Roman Pavlyuchenko and Robbie Keane, and the ammunition provided from the likes of Bale, Lennon, Modric and Van der Vaart would certainly give Owen the chances he craves.
Wherever Michael Owen ends up, as long as he stays fit you can bet that he will score more times than Hugh Hefner, and I’m sure that he will not need the marketing brochure that described him as ‘Clean’, ‘Cool’, and ‘Good looking’. Judging by his current scouse Manchester United strike partner, the latter of those three isn’t high on Sir Alex’s reuirements list.
