Michael Owen admits he asked three Liverpool managers for return
Michael Owen admitted that he was ‘desperate’ to rejoin Liverpool within a year after he left for Real Madrid in 2004 and asked three different managers.
Liverpool fans were rocked with the news in 2004 that local lad Michael Owen would be leaving the club for Real Madrid. The ominous signs were there from the onset of course, he’d been left on the bench during Champions League matches in August so not to be cup-tied if he were to leave.
It didn’t take long for Owen to realize he’d made a mistake. Within a year, he was ‘desperate’ to return to Liverpool. A move back to Merseyside didn’t materialize that summer and he signed with Newcastle after just one year in Madrid.
“At every stage – every summer – I was on the phone to Carra (Jamie Carragher) telling him to find a way to get me back,” says Owen in Simon Hughes’ new book Ring of Fire, via Liverpool Echo. “‘Does Rafa want me?’ I’d say. ‘Does Kenny want me? Does Brendan want me?’ It was circumstance that stopped it happening.”
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Owen didn’t stop trying but it was all for naught.
“Whenever I was available, Liverpool had too many strikers,” said Owen. “And when Liverpool wanted me, I was injured. By the end, I wasn’t the player I had been before and they simply didn’t fancy me. I wasn’t good enough.”
After Owen’s contract with Newcastle expired after the 2008/09 season, he again attempted to return to Liverpool. Instead, he’d sign for Manchester United.
“I spoke to Carra and tried to get (Rafa) Benitez to do something. I wanted to try to put it right somehow,” said Owen. “When it became clear Benitez didn’t want to do a deal, I spoke again with (Alex) Ferguson. He was very positive about me. I was twenty-nine years old. Should I have decided to retire there and then?”
It’s an interesting read if nothing else. It’ll also always be a fun ‘what if?’
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