A team in the UAE are after him, they like their horse over there.
Michael Owen | Not getting a new contract
- Thread starter SAFrules
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Wonder if City will sign him as a new rent-a-legend
Good luck to him, wherever he ends up/
Michael Owen reveals on Twitter he is still searching for new club
Michael Owen says he is still waiting for a "good opportunity" ahead of the new season, but has again said he will not drop down to the Championship.
Ex-England striker Owen, 32, insisted in May he would not retire despite being released by Manchester United after three seasons at Old Trafford.
"If a good opportunity doesn't come my way then so be it," tweeted Owen.
"I know I can still bang them in at the top level. I proved that nearly every time I played for Manchester United."
Owen moved to Old Trafford on a free transfer in 2009, and he scored nine goals in his first season - including the winner in his side's 4-3 victory in the Manchester derby.
His appearances became less frequent in his second year at the club, when he scored five goals in all competitions, before he netted three times in four outings last term.
He made just one Premier League appearance, however, and his last outing was in the Champions League at the beginning of November.
But Owen believes he still has something to offer in the top-flight - and he said he would not consider dropping down a division to join a Championship club.
"At 32, I've still got a few years in me," he said.
"At this stage of my career it has to be something that I'm going to enjoy doing.
"Not being disrespectful when I say I wouldn't play in the Championship. Always said I wouldn't drop down the leagues like some have done.
"After playing for Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle, Man Utd and England, I don't think I would enjoy that football."
At this rate he may be still with us at the start of the season.
Michael Owen says he is still waiting for a "good opportunity" ahead of the new season, but has again said he will not drop down to the Championship.
Ex-England striker Owen, 32, insisted in May he would not retire despite being released by Manchester United after three seasons at Old Trafford.
"If a good opportunity doesn't come my way then so be it," tweeted Owen.
"I know I can still bang them in at the top level. I proved that nearly every time I played for Manchester United."
Owen moved to Old Trafford on a free transfer in 2009, and he scored nine goals in his first season - including the winner in his side's 4-3 victory in the Manchester derby.
His appearances became less frequent in his second year at the club, when he scored five goals in all competitions, before he netted three times in four outings last term.
He made just one Premier League appearance, however, and his last outing was in the Champions League at the beginning of November.
But Owen believes he still has something to offer in the top-flight - and he said he would not consider dropping down a division to join a Championship club.
"At 32, I've still got a few years in me," he said.
"At this stage of my career it has to be something that I'm going to enjoy doing.
"Not being disrespectful when I say I wouldn't play in the Championship. Always said I wouldn't drop down the leagues like some have done.
"After playing for Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle, Man Utd and England, I don't think I would enjoy that football."
At this rate he may be still with us at the start of the season.
If I was him I wouldn't be burning bridges as he's currently doing. The brochure guy is nowhere near to what he used to be.
He's quite weird isn't he? His bitterness towards Italy in the Euros was bizarre.
He's obviously still a Premier League standard player and he's right to assert it - he'd be a good addition to most squads in the premier league
I dont see it myself
well last season he scored 3 in 4 appearances
If he gets a bit of luck he could do a decent job and maybe get 15/20 games for a team like Sunderland/Villa/etc
He could also be a good impact sub for most teams
The injuries may have destroyed his explosive pace but he can still finish
How many in the Premier League?
Against Leeds United and Aldershot Town, not Premier League level...
You can only score when you play amigo
You only play if you're good enough and fit.
I take your point about fitness but Berbatov could barely get a start last season
Berbatov who was top scorer in the league the previous season
Owen's lack of game time says more about our strength in depth up front
Diouf couldn't get a game,went to Germany and did very well
The fact is that when all fit Owen won't be among the 3/4 strikers in a match day squad given the qualities of Rooney/Hernandez/Welbeck/Berbatov
He's an odd little chap. I'm glad he's gone.
He seems to have a slightly inflated opinion of himself. Sure he can get a goal or two but you can't look past his injury record. Any PL club would be taking a huge gamble giving up one of their valuable 25 first-team places to someone who spent so much of the last two seasons unable for selection.
He seems to have a slightly inflated opinion of himself. Sure he can get a goal or two but you can't look past his injury record. Any PL club would be taking a huge gamble giving up one of their valuable 25 first-team places to someone who spent so much of the last two seasons unable for selection.
I actually don't rate his finishing. It's his positioning that's excellent.
Never understood the point of actually getting him, his minimal input/impact was predicted and expected before he came. Yes, he obviously has contributed over his time here, but let's be honest, in the smallest of ways. He seemed a very pointless signing, and even weirder was the decision in giving him the Number 7 shirt, which admittedly I don't care all that much about, but it seemed a bit stupid to hand such an iconic shirt to someone who would barely feature in his time here, something that had to be expected. All in all, I have a lot more respect for him now then I did before, I'm not sure why, but he just seems like a decent professional and good sort, but as a player he seemed, and has largely proved to be, a pointless purchase.
Was never a Manchester United player and should have stuck to clubs mid to low table
The signing was odd - the fact that Fergie extended his contract was odder - he must have seen something in training/limited games he played
Nevertheless some of the mid to lower league teams could make some use of him and there are rumours stoke are in for him I think
The signing was odd - the fact that Fergie extended his contract was odder - he must have seen something in training/limited games he played
Nevertheless some of the mid to lower league teams could make some use of him and there are rumours stoke are in for him I think
He intimates he's "only" 32. 
How much has he played since he was 22?
How much has he played since he was 22?
He'll end up at a Premier League side but probably towards the end of the window. It's still early days and most will still be going for their first or second choice targets you'd have though.
I can see the point in signing him. At the time, Rooney and Berbatov were our only two strikers - with Welbeck, Diouf and Macheda as potential back-ups, none of whom looked ready for regular first-team football yet. Made sense to get someone in who was an experienced, senior pro yet willing to spend a lot of time on the bench and on a short enough contract that we could cut him loose as soon as one or other of the young 'uns came good.
he's a goalscorer
promoted teams usually have trouble getting enough goals to stay up, they could do worse than look at Owen
promoted teams usually have trouble getting enough goals to stay up, they could do worse than look at Owen
precisely
Im sure Fergie knew precisely how many games he could expect from Owen and where he expected to use him. He knew that he was getting a good experienced Pro, who has scored goals at every level he's played at
His movement is superb and im sure Welbeck learnt a lot from that
It would obviously come down to wages but a mid to lower table club could do a lot worse than have him in their side even if it's for 15-20 games a season. I'd fancy him for 8-10 goals which would put him amongst the top scorers.
He's doesnt need the money ( he's a nice set up with his stables ect ) so only playing top level is his decision really and it a fair one to make. Probably better off going out at the top that fading out through the lower leagues or going like robbie fowler and travelling the world playing in shitty leagues.
Greetings, Nail. Allow me to introduce a very good friend of mine, Head.
I think he's reaping the benefits of being burned out at Liverpool when he wasn't fully developed. If you've ever seen the movie "El Cid", that was Michael Owen, practically playing on crutches. Desperate club. Not the only player either. Tragic waste and misuse of an outstanding player.
I didn't see it. In theory, it sounded great, but the problem was his fitness. He was always going to have problems with injuries, I couldn't see him as reliable back-up. He did play a fair few games in that first season mind, but I still think we could have done without him. To be honest, his attitude and expense meant that the decision was really trivial, it certainly didn't hurt to have him at the club, and he has definitely helped our younger strikers there is no question there. I think if we were really looking at cover for a bare strikeforce, we could have been a bit more adventerous than Owen, but how realistic that is is another question, as mentioned he came with perks. He's had so many injury problems throughout his career though, I'm not sure how much you can actually rely on him for anything, it was only ever really going to be a case of keeping the bench warm.
I think his self-inflated opinion of himself is his regret of never having the career he could have had. It's as if he's trying to make up for his injuries and poor career choices by pretending he can still offer a lot to top clubs. He's clearly not satisfied with how his career has panned out and is seemingly trying to re-prove himself.
I guess the logic was that he'd never played as back-up before. I presume Fergie thought using him sparingly might make him less likely to spend the whole time crocked. He could give him a long time to recover between games and have a low threshold for making him rest if he had a niggle. Obviously that didn't turn out well but meh, hindsight.
I'm with you, Hecto. I reckon Fergie actually thought he'd have played considerably more times than he did, which is why he was given the number 7. But yeah pointless signing, I rather we'd spent that cash on someone less prone to being crocked.
considering at the time we had Rooney & Berba as our main strikers, Chico and Welbeck developing im just wondering who you guys thought we should be bringing in? Owen served a purpose, play when the others needed a rest, and to help develop the young uns. I repeat, i bet Welbeck and Chico learnt a lot from observing his movement
I didn't really agree with the signing, but I reckon Pogue's right in terms of Fergie's reasons. I'm sure he thought that if he only played every other game or less he'd be much less prone to injuries. Sadly his body is so fecked that he only has maybe a dozen games in him a season if he's lucky.
Same here. That for me was the indicator we planned to use Owen a hell of a lot more than we did, otherwise we simply would not have put such an iconic shirt anywhere near him. Why would we give the Number 7 shirt to someone who would barely feature? It seemed like a strange one really, there was always a question of fitness and injury, because it had been evident at Madrid and of course before that. Hindsight is a great thing though, and perhaps he could have had a stronger impact if he'd been fitter, but that's the risk you take when you sign known crocked players, much like why we wouldn't take it Saha in a few years time if we were light on strikers, because he is unreliable. I'd like to know from other players what it's been like to train with and around him though, perhaps that sort of thing is invaluable to developing youngsters.
Its a mixed bag really. It surely made sense in terms of getting a proven experienced goalscorer on the cheap. But his injury record was always going to be tricky and in the end, his injuries meant he didnt play as much of a part as everyone expected. Was always going to be a risk and with our record with injuries, not really a surprise it didnt work out great.
Still think youngsters like Welbeck and Hernandez would have learnt a lot from him. Rooney too actually. Owen's ability and sense to be at the right spot at the right time is brilliant, must have passed it on.
Giving him the No 7 really irked me though. With the players that had held the jersey before him, Owen getting it was weird. But then Ronaldo's imapct and hype meant whoever picked it next was going to be scrutinized and compared to him so probably a good idea not to give it to one of our regulars.
Still think youngsters like Welbeck and Hernandez would have learnt a lot from him. Rooney too actually. Owen's ability and sense to be at the right spot at the right time is brilliant, must have passed it on.
Giving him the No 7 really irked me though. With the players that had held the jersey before him, Owen getting it was weird. But then Ronaldo's imapct and hype meant whoever picked it next was going to be scrutinized and compared to him so probably a good idea not to give it to one of our regulars.
I think giving him the Number 7 was more about talking the stigma off the number following Ronaldo than expecting Owen to live up to it.
I actually think he'd have gotten the jersey regardless. The entire media hype around Ronaldo and his huge impact on us the last couple of seasons he was here meant whoever got the jersey would have been scrutinized and compared to him. Could be the reason it was given to him rather than a young regular who might not take the attention too well.
fans attach too much importance to a number; its a bit retarded. Its about the players performance not a number
Obviously, and for most the number of a shirt is irrelevant, but that's not to say United haven't played up to the effect over the years.