Manchester United complete sensational Owen deal !
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he wont start for sure, if he did I am very surprised.
He will be given chances to start though, if rooney and berbatov need rested for midweek game CL or BPL match and also fa cup matches.
I think if he can stay out injured, he can easily get 10 goals or even 15.
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Originally posted by marcteng:
he wont start for sure, if he did I am very surprised.
He will be given chances to start though, if rooney and berbatov need rested for midweek game CL or BPL match and also fa cup matches.
I think if he can stay out injured, he can easily get 10 goals or even 15.
Ya i agree. But we never know, SAF might play 4-3-3.
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Michael Owen EXCLUSIVE
MICHAEL OWEN would have taken a £100,000-a-week pay CUT to rejoin Liverpool. Even while Owen was in negotiations with Manchester United, efforts were made on his behalf to force an Anfield intervention.
The England striker was so desperate to return to the club where he emerged as a world-class goalscorer that he would have accepted a basic salary of just £25,000-a-week plus goal and appearance bonuses.
But Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez's doubts over Owen's form, fitness and desire to put his club before his England ambitions ensured he rejected repeated attempts to persuade him to re-sign the player he sold five years ago.
Benitez also recalled how Owen upset the Anfield faithful twice when he left in 2004 and then failed to return in 2005. The Kop boss had no intention of risking being jilted a third time by trying to hijack the United swoop.
Owen had earlier delayed a decision on his future in the forlorn hope his old club would make a move. As the doctors awaited Owen's arrival at Carrington, phone calls were being made in a bid to ignite Liverpool's interest.
Co-owner George Gillett was particularly keen to sign the 29-year-old, having first met Owen in the Colorado clinic where he underwent knee surgery after the 2006 World Cup. But by Thursday, Sir Alex Ferguson's powers of persuasion had killed Owen's lingering Kop loyalties. Ferguson convinced him to turn his back on both the Merseyside clubs, after Everton had put together a £2.4million-a-year package.
Owen met Goodison boss David Moyes in Miami and was impressed with the Scot's plans for next season. Moyes was prepared to restructure his side to accommodate Owen and was in prime position to sign him.
Chairman Bill Kenwright was also keen on a deal, feeling it would lay down a marker of his club's ambitions. But Owen was wary of crossing the Stanley Park divide, unwavering in his belief that he belongs on a Champions League stage and can force his way back into Fabio Capello's World Cup plans.
Ferguson moved swiftly with a call to Owen on Wednesday morning and, by Thursday night, a £50,000-a-week contract. Owen could double that figure, though, with goals and appearances to take him close to the £125,000 he was earning at Newcastle.
Ferguson's United will relish the fact Liverpool fans will be cursing more than ever if Owen denies them future titles, because the Kop refused first option of taking the striker back.
Yet it will take only a tweak of Owen's hamstring - or the unveiling of an alternative top-class back-up for Fernando Torres - to justify Benitez's stance. Owen's recent injury record meant Rafa was cautious about taking a sentimental journey. He is also concerned about what level of transfer resources he has at his disposal, even for bargain deals. That is unlike Fergie, who knows he can afford to make a mistake.
The Spanish boss will be relieved that a saga which began weeks after his arrival from Valencia has come to an emphatic end. Repeated efforts by Owen's admirers to secure his return to Liverpool were visibly irritating Benitez, always unconvinced of the merits. He insisted he wanted to look to the future, not Liverpool's past.
He was upset at the timing of the striker's departure for Real Madrid in 2004, a month after Rafa became Liverpool boss, but felt more annoyed when Owen did not hold out for an Anfield move a year down the line - despite face-to-face talks and a pledge to take him six months later.
At that time, Benitez felt Owen had shown he was more concerned about being prepared for the 2006 World Cup than playing for Liverpool. Since then, Benitez has regularly made public his resistance to signing him.
KOP BOSS - Rafa BenitezThe United transfer effectively ends four years of Owen regularly pleading to return to Anfield. There were approaches by his representatives to secure a Liverpool move every season he spent on Tyneside.
Now Owen has crossed a line no Liverpool fan will accept. The former Kop idol can expect a torrid reception after becoming the first player to join both clubs since Paul Ince.
Ironically, the summer began with Liverpool pursuing a United favourite, Carlos Tevez. If Liverpool's forlorn pursuit of the South American temporarily crept under the skin of the Stretford End, it pales into insignificance to the back spasms felt on The Kop at the sight of Owen now at Old Trafford.
The failure even to acknowledge his Anfield past when unveiled on Friday, or appreciate the despair felt on Merseyside at the sight of him in a United shirt, hurt Liverpool fans even more.
Ferguson has never made football decisions for anything other than football reasons. But he will be cunningly aware of the wider repercussions. There is an unavoidable sense the North West superpowers are making transfer decisions they hope will come back to haunt each other.
And while many claim Fergie has taken a gamble on Owen, it may also be argued Rafa has taken a punt in ignoring him.
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Lol we shall see whether owen will perform at mu to prove benitez tt he shld have signed him back.
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Actually Owen must go to countries which has a slower pace than in England , his injuries is all due to the pace of the game , his knee cannot tahan long haul of the season la ...
He should go to places like sunshine or desert UAE , Dubai or Saudi Arabia .
Or follow Beckham to LA Galaxy .... top level soccer is over for him and his injuries .
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Originally posted by ViNnO:
Lol we shall see whether owen will perform at mu to prove benitez tt he shld have signed him back.
He has nohing to prove la bro ... and Benitez has got nothing to do with his career .We just don't need another centre forward .
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Originally posted by Poolman:
He has nohing to prove la bro ... and Benitez has got nothing to do with his career .We just don't need another centre forward .
"But Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez's doubts over Owen's form, fitness and desire to put his club before his England ambitions ensured he rejected repeated attempts to persuade him to re-sign the player he sold five years ago. " -
Originally posted by ViNnO:
"But Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez's doubts over Owen's form, fitness and desire to put his club before his England ambitions ensured he rejected repeated attempts to persuade him to re-sign the player he sold five years ago. "Like I said, it just put the "you'll never walk alone" to shame la.. this only works when U are good/useful, after that, it is "you'll always walk alone"...
All the Lpool fans can deny till their faces turns blue, but they can't deny this transaction.. What an irony. No offense meant.
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I believed all these is down to Rafa taking it very personal... As when he first arrived at Anfield, he fail to persuade Owen to stay... A year plus later when Owen was leaving Real, Rafa again fail to convinced Owen to return to Anfield and blaming Owen for not insisting a move back to Anfield when in fact their offer was so much off Newcastle's... Owen in the end went to Newcastle and I guess Rafa took offence since then...
All these time, current players like Gerrard as well as some former players and fans have tried to convince Rafa to bring Owen back to Liverpool even this last 2 yrs when it was made known he had a $9 or $11m buy out in his Newcastle contract...
So I believed Rafa would never take Owen back cos of his narrow mindedness... Injuries concerns and all that is just his excuse... He rather spend loads of money on Peter Crouch then Robbie Keane than even bringing a kop hero like Owen back... And age is definitely not the reason too as he brought back Robbie Fowler when he was already 31 and honestly not very useful too by then... Owen would only be 31 after he finish his United contract in 2 yrs time... So he still has a lot to give and Rafa miss out on a great offer... Whatever it is, a free player in the class of Owen is too good to miss especially in this current crazy transfer market... cos even an average player might cost you $10m and above right now...
The most silliest thing now is I guess Rafa might still need to spend quite a sum to bring in a 2nd striker to back-up Torres... Unless he is still going to depend on that David N'gog... He could have got Owen for free but didn't act... Pool's lost, United's gain...
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Originally posted by Poolman:
M Owen sick note ?
End of coming season then we see before verdicting ....
I bet he won't play beyond 30 matches according to Sam Allardyce's medical team .
Well..in the 1st place i dont think Utd bought him to play him in the starting lineup. He's a pretty good backup to have on the bench. No risk with the contract terms agreed also. If he can play 20+ matches for d in all competitions, the club will be very pleased. Knowing his conversion rate, Utd can fully expect him to score plenty of goals. Bear in mind, his scoring rate is pretty impressive even at a club like Newcastle where service to the strikers is dire.
As i saidf before also, i dont Owen will be the last transfer to Utd (not inlcuding youth players)
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Originally posted by zocoss:
I believed all these is down to Rafa taking it very personal... As when he first arrived at Anfield, he fail to persuade Owen to stay... A year plus later when Owen was leaving Real, Rafa again fail to convinced Owen to return to Anfield and blaming Owen for not insisting a move back to Anfield when in fact their offer was so much off Newcastle's... Owen in the end went to Newcastle and I guess Rafa took offence since then...
All these time, current players like Gerrard as well as some former players and fans have tried to convince Rafa to bring Owen back to Liverpool even this last 2 yrs when it was made known he had a $9 or $11m buy out in his Newcastle contract...
So I believed Rafa would never take Owen back cos of his narrow mindedness... Injuries concerns and all that is just his excuse... He rather spend loads of money on Peter Crouch then Robbie Keane than even bringing a kop hero like Owen back... And age is definitely not the reason too as he brought back Robbie Fowler when he was already 31 and honestly not very useful too by then... Owen would only be 31 after he finish his United contract in 2 yrs time... So he still has a lot to give and Rafa miss out on a great offer... Whatever it is, a free player in the class of Owen is too good to miss especially in this current crazy transfer market... cos even an average player might cost you $10m and above right now...
The most silliest thing now is I guess Rafa might still need to spend quite a sum to bring in a 2nd striker to back-up Torres... Unless he is still going to depend on that David N'gog... He could have got Owen for free but didn't act... Pool's lost, United's gain...
Good post. Agreed with all of it.
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Originally posted by iceFatboy:
Like I said, it just put the "you'll never walk alone" to shame la.. this only works when U are good/useful, after that, it is "you'll always walk alone"...
All the Lpool fans can deny till their faces turns blue, but they can't deny this transaction.. What an irony. No offense meant.
LOl.
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Wigan Athletic Chairman Dave Whelan Believes 'Shrewd' Owen Deal Will Pay Dividends For Manchester United
The Latics chief has praised Sir Alex's wisdom in the transfer market...
Wigan Athletic chairman Dave Whelan believes that Sir Alex Ferguson has pulled off a transfer masterstroke with his capture of Michael Owen.
The former Newcastle United and Real Madrid striker signed for the Mancunians after his contract expired on Tyneside.
Whelan praised Sir Alex and believes that Owen still has the quality to perform in the Premier League.
He told The Manchester Evening News, "United's capture of Owen could be a wonderfully shrewd move on Fergie's part. He knows the player and he realises Owen can still deliver.
"A wise old head has been behind the move for Owen and I think it will pay big dividends."
Whelan also admitted he had tried to sign Owen when at Real Madrid but the player opted for Newcastle, and admitted he holds the England striker in high regard.
"He's got bags of experience and the lad is still a threat. I've always admired Owen and I tried to sign him at Wigan a couple of years ago," he added.
"I also feel Owen is still capable of popping up and scoring vital goals. I'm fully expecting to see him used as an impact player at United.
"For 30 minutes of any game, whether it be the Premiership or in Europe, he could have a devastating effect." -
Lol shrewd. I like tt word.
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when i heard news Owen is going to man Utd..i was thinking..."damn the wily fox has done it again"...i believe signing owen will be the last ace of SAF's Aces of signings (after Cantona, Ronaldo and RVN)..at least ten goals from him..as someone said he was playing with Newcastle, there's no hunger for goals and it's Martins whom they think can propel them...he'll find more chemistry with the Man Utd team better..hopefully displace Berbacock la..
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owen is a has been, no matter how many ways you look at him...if he had any chance of redeeming his career, he would have done so way earlier....not sure why fergie took him in but there's no masterstroke here.....
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Owen is still a deadly finisher, whichever way you look at it. Dont call him a has been, Im pretty sure Man U have done a very decent piece of business, for zero transfer fee. Sure, he may only be good for 2 or maybe 3 seasons, but thats enough. They got him for free. Why doesnt benitez sign him, is he thinking of buying david villa? If no decent striker is coming to anfield, then Im sure benitez is stupid not to sign michael owen.
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Originally posted by chrisbenoit:
Owen is still a deadly finisher, whichever way you look at it. Dont call him a has been, Im pretty sure Man U have done a very decent piece of business, for zero transfer fee. Sure, he may only be good for 2 or maybe 3 seasons, but thats enough. They got him for free. Why doesnt benitez sign him, is he thinking of buying david villa? If no decent striker is coming to anfield, then Im sure benitez is stupid not to sign michael owen.
it'll be difficult for beni to sign villa.. villa said he wants to stay in spain.. oh well, if RM or Barca dont make serious moves then prolly he be tempted to join the spanish ppl in liverpool especially torres.. but duno if beni willin to come up wit the money or is he able to come up wit the money from de board..
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Originally posted by chrisbenoit:
Owen is still a deadly finisher, whichever way you look at it. Dont call him a has been, Im pretty sure Man U have done a very decent piece of business, for zero transfer fee. Sure, he may only be good for 2 or maybe 3 seasons, but thats enough. They got him for free. Why doesnt benitez sign him, is he thinking of buying david villa? If no decent striker is coming to anfield, then Im sure benitez is stupid not to sign michael owen.
this owen hasn't finished very many things for a good number of years...i think fergie was just missing the owen he already has in the sick room, so he got this one to keep the current one company....lol
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Lets be honest. How mnay class strikers are there out there for which Man Utd can buy? Aguero? Ribery? Etc.? All will be overpriced iin this current crazy market. And theres no guarantee they will be be able to bring 20 goals per season for Man Utd.So why waste the money even if its there when you can get a proven poacher for free?
Just becoz Utd have the money doesnt mean they need ot psend it unnecessarily.
There are more pros for the club than cons. If he stays fit, he can easily get more than 15 goals in a team with better service than Newcastle. If he gets injured, he is free and on a play-as-you-pay contract. Utd still have Macheda and Wellbeck who will most definitely benefit from having an experienced head like Owen around to learn from.
Futhermore, Owen did not have a proper pre-season with newcastle and all players will tell you that without a proper preseason, you will have to play catchup to the rest of the pack. Now, he have signed before the preseason and is fit to start preseason training for Utd which will definitely help him a lot and also indirectly tell Ferguson whether he will need to bring in another striker it he deems Owen unfit. The transfer window is still a long way to go.
And having a point to prove to his doubters and fighting for a place in 2010 World Cup, Owen will definitely have an added motivation to do well.
We'll see by the time the season kicks-off but i for one am very excited at seeing Owen feeding off the services of the other players. And i believe he will prove all his doubters wrong.
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before newcastle was pool and madrid, not exactly crap teams........
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Originally posted by dukedracula:
before newcastle was pool and madrid, not exactly crap teams........
well, he did perform in Pool and Madrid, didn't he?
so now, he is in MU where he will get better service, be united back with Rooney, U think he lacks the instinct to tap in goals?
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Originally posted by hamidisaidi:
Lets be honest. How mnay class strikers are there out there for which Man Utd can buy? Aguero? Ribery? Etc.? All will be overpriced iin this current crazy market. And theres no guarantee they will be be able to bring 20 goals per season for Man Utd.So why waste the money even if its there when you can get a proven poacher for free?
Just becoz Utd have the money doesnt mean they need ot psend it unnecessarily.
There are more pros for the club than cons. If he stays fit, he can easily get more than 15 goals in a team with better service than Newcastle. If he gets injured, he is free and on a play-as-you-pay contract. Utd still have Macheda and Wellbeck who will most definitely benefit from having an experienced head like Owen around to learn from.
Futhermore, Owen did not have a proper pre-season with newcastle and all players will tell you that without a proper preseason, you will have to play catchup to the rest of the pack. Now, he have signed before the preseason and is fit to start preseason training for Utd which will definitely help him a lot and also indirectly tell Ferguson whether he will need to bring in another striker it he deems Owen unfit. The transfer window is still a long way to go.
And having a point to prove to his doubters and fighting for a place in 2010 World Cup, Owen will definitely have an added motivation to do well.
We'll see by the time the season kicks-off but i for one am very excited at seeing Owen feeding off the services of the other players. And i believe he will prove all his doubters wrong.
agreed.. hopefully, this one time explantion is enough for all.
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Thanks iceFatboy...
I was watching the Paddy Crerand show on MUTV yesterday and 90% of the Man Utd supporters genuinely felt it is a masterstroke by Ferguson to bring in Owen. And they will definitely give him a warm reception when he step out onto the pitch in Utd colours.
Also, Owen and his family lives a mere 30mins drive from Old Trafford so if you are looking into all these aspects, it is definitely a brilliant move by Ferguson.
Those who felt it is a a waste to get Owen are either non-Utd fans, glory-hunters, FM muppets or does not trust Sir Alex's judgement.
To those true fans, enjoy the season ahead coz i believe we will see a more complete team without Ronaldo; with the rest of the players such as Rooney, Carrick, Nani etc stepping out of Ronaldo's shadows.
To those Liverpool supporters, Cheer up. Owen left Liverpool long ago. Blame your club for not going in with an offer to snap him up.
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owen has had all the services he could have gotten and yet couldn't even get a sniff of the ball, he left pool cos' he was washed out by then, madrid was quick to dump him, no performance there....sure there were the odd flashes.....as for rooney, he has publicly said he should be the striker and not the 'feeder'.......as for owen, sure he will perform but it isn't going to be this one, it's the one with the first name owen.....lol