United eager to trigger Owen's £9m escape clause
By Sam Wallace
Published: 09 May 2007
The Newcastle United striker Michael Owen will be the first target for Sir Alex Ferguson this summer with the new Premiership champions eager to take advantage of a clause in the player's contract that will make him one of the summer's best bargains. Owen should be available to leave St James' Park for around £9m.
Should a deal be struck, there is understood to be no major objections from the man himself about joining the oldest rivals of his first club Liverpool who passed up the chance to re-sign him in 2005 when he left Real Madrid. The 27-year-old found his old club outbid then by Newcastle but the clause in his contract means that he will be able to leave the north-east for much less than the £17m paid for him two years ago.
Manchester United have explored the possibility of signing Dimitar Berbatov but, having agreed a deal of up to £18.6m for Michael Carrick last year, have been told that on this occasion Tottenham Hotspur will attempt to price the Bulgarian international out the market. Owen fits the bill for Old Trafford in more than one way, he brings the guarantee of goals and he comes cheaper than usual for a former European footballer of the year.
The dispute between the Football Association and Newcastle over who pays Owen's wages following his World Cup injury has all but disclosed that the player is on £110,000-a-week which would put him among the top earners at Old Trafford. As usual, any reports of Owen leaving Newcastle where injury has prevented him playing more than 13 games in two years, are likely to be met with a firm riposte from St James Park but there is no question that Manchester United are interested.
The Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd is yet to appoint a new manager since Glenn Roeder's departure and Owen's future is likely to play a significant role in that deal. However, regardless of the bad luck Newcastle may have had with Owen's metatarsal injury last year, and this season's cruciate, the original release clause was there for just this kind of move. It would not play well with the Newcastle public, but they might wish to question why such an agreement was brokered in the first place.
Ferguson has lacked a more traditional goalscoring poacher since the departure of Ruud van Nistelrooy last summer and, with the injuries to Louis Saha, there has not been a settled strike partner for Wayne Rooney. Owen would also suit the high-tempo, pressing game that United have switched to over the last season in the absence of the Dutchman.
"Speed is important to us," Ferguson said. "The way we play we need that in the team. At the moment we are looking whether we can get more speed."
With deals also likely for Owen Hargreaves and Gareth Bale, Ferguson will certainly test the finances of the club under the Glazer ownership this summer.
In the meantime, he is expected to pick a strong United side to play at Stamford Bridge tonight as his champions attempt to be the first team to inflict Chelsea's first home Premiership defeat since Jose Mourinho took over. The Chelsea manager is expected to rest Didier Drogba.
United's Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo has recorded an appeal for the return of the missing English girl Madeleine McCann who was abducted while on a family holiday in the Algarve on Thursday.
Ronaldo filmed the appeal in English and Portuguese before travelling with the United squad to London for tonight's game at Stamford Bridge.
The appeal was made at the request of the British foreign office staff in Portugal who thought that his huge profile in his home country would draw attention to the hunt for the missing three-year-old.
Owen's Newcastle record
2005
Michael Owen joins Newcastle for £16m from Real Madrid in August.
10 Sep Newcastle 1 Fulham 1
18 Sep Blackburn 0 Newcastle 3 (Owen 1)
24 Sep Newcastle 1 Man City 0 (Owen 1 )
15 Oct Wigan 1 Newcastle 0
30 Oct West Bromwich 0 Newcastle 3 (Owen 2)
5 Nov Newcastle 1 Birmingham 0
10 Dec Newcastle 1 Arsenal 0
17 Dec West Ham 2 Newcastle 4 (Owen 3)
26 Dec Liverpool 2 Newcastle 0
31 Dec Tottenham 2 Newcastle 0
Breaks metatarsal bone in his foot at Tottenham and is out until April 2006, undergoing two operations.
2006
29 April Birmingham 0 Newcastle 0
Comes on as substitute at Birmingham, but not "100 per cent happy" and does not play again domestically. In June, damages anterior cruciate ligament in England's final World Cup group game. Does not play again for 10 months.
2007
30 April Reading 1 Newcastle 0
5 May Newcastle 0 Blackburn 2
Overall: Games 13 Goals 7 (cost per goal £2.2m)
Comment