Michael Owen to pull on the colours of Liverpool

Michael Owen is back on Merseyside after leaving Liverpool six years ago. He will be wearing a Liverpool shirt again.

 

He will be featured in Jamie Carragher’s testimonial match against Everton XI at Anfield next weekend. Owen, reviled by some Liverpool fans after crossing one of the game's oldest divides, is said to be uncertain of the reaction he will get from the Anfield crowd but does not have great expectations considering the abuse when he returned last season for the first time since joining their rivals at Old Trafford.

Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, has given him permission to play for 45 minutes. Besides Owen, Carragher has also persuaded Jamie Redknapp, Danny Murphy, Jason McAteer, Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman, Dietmar Hamann and Emile Heskey to play for Liverpool XI.

The Anfield match on Saturday, September 4 will celebrate Carragher's illustrious career to date and raise cash for Merseyside children's charities. Current Blues boss David Moyes is set to manage the Everton XI.

Welcome home, Michael. We will go easy on you. Enjoy your day at Anfield.

Stay tune for more news and follow me on Twitter.

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Weekend Link – July 12: Return of the King, No more big money signing for Reds, R.I.P. Michael Jackson (1958 – 2009), When a Hero turns to Zero, Chelsea swoop for Zlatan

 

Here comes another round of links galore from Red's Fury™.

 

Return of the King.

- Red in Dublin

 

No more big money signing for Reds.

- Liverpool FC Forever

 

R.I.P. Michael Jackson – The Tribute by Sashi.

- sashi-isms

 

From a Saint to a Devil.

- The Empire of The Kop

 

The Blues prepares to bid for Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

- Tommy’s Football

 

Wants to have your post mentioned here?

 

YNWA,

Red's Fury™

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Michael Owen officially a Red Devil

The England international striker has officially signed for Manchester United in what is this summer's shock move in the transfer market. He has signed a two-year contract.

The Red Devils have confirmed the striker's capture on their official website, and Owen is clearly delighted to have completed such sensational move.

United manager Alex Ferguson was pleased to have reinforced his forward line, depleted by the recent departure of Cristiano Ronaldo and the imminent exit of Carlos Tevez.

Owen will now link up with friends and former England colleagues Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand, as he looks to put himself back in the frame for Fabio Capello's England squad with the World Cup only a year away.

I’d like to wish him and Manchester United all the best.

Stay tune for more transfer news and rumours. Follow me on Twitter.

Get 10% OFF Official Liverpool FC Merchandise from eXosports. Don’t forget to get the voucher code from me.

 

YNWA,

Red's Fury™

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Michael Owen to join Manchester United

I don’t know how’s true are the press rumours surrounding former Liverpool striker, Michael Owen, 29-year-old, signing for Manchester United? Owen’s contract at Newcastle expires on July 1 and are free to join any clubs.

The Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, was poised to make an astonishing move in the transfer market by bringing injury-prone striker Michael Owen to Old Trafford on a free transfer.

The likes of Karem Benzema and Franck Ribery, who both targets for United has snubbed the Red Devils for Real Madrid recently and what irked Sir Alex even more are Carlos Tevez will not sign for United after being offered a contract.

Owen would welcome a move to United because it would give him the chance to prove himself at Champions League level and also bolster his chances of regaining his place in England head coach Fabio Capello's plans for next summer's World Cup finals.

With the luxury of £80million at the disposal of Sir Alex, he only managed to sign Antonio Valencia from Wigan for £16miliion. United could offer Owen a lucrative contract deal, matching his wages at Newcastle, which stands at £115,000 per week.

Everton has dropped out of the race to sign the out of favour England international as they could not match his salary demand. Although, Owen, who will be ready to accept a dramatic drop in wages, has already attracted public declarations of interest from Stoke City and Hull City while Tottenham and Portsmouth are also understood to be keen on securing the services of a striker who has fallen from grace during his time on Tyneside.

Should Owen join United - where he would also get the chance to team up with England striker Wayne Rooney - he would plug one of the gaps in the United ranks cause by the departure of two of Ferguson's so-called 'Fab Four' in the shape of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez. At the same time, ends his relationship with all the Anfield’s fans.

The former Manchester United and England skipper, Bryan Robson, is confident that Owen can still prosper in the upper echelons of the game despite his recent problems since his £17million move to Newcastle from Real Madrid.

  "Michael is a natural goal-scorer and natural goal-scorers who can do the business at the highest level are few and far between,"

"I definitely think that he is capable of being a Champions League striker because he's only 29 and he has still plenty of good years left in him yet." - Bryan Robson, Telegraph Sport.

Liverpool is also in the market for a backup striker. Is Rafa going to make a last minute offer for Michael Owen? I would love to hear your thoughts and leave your comment here.

Stay tune for more transfer news and rumours. Follow me on Twitter.

Get 10% OFF Official Liverpool FC Merchandise from eXosports. Don’t forget to get the voucher code from me.

 

YNWA,

Red's Fury™

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Weekend Link – June 28: ‘El Nino’ to front PES, Save the Kop stand, Real continues its shopping sprees, First we have Michael Owen brochure then comes Barton’s, News roundup in the Premier League

Links from around the globe.

Fernando Torres stars in the upcoming Pro Evolution Soccer 2010.

- AnfieldReds

 

Sign the petition!

- The Empire of The Kop

 

“I want Raul Albiol, Franck Ribery, David Villa for Real.”

- Football News

 

The Joey Barton brochure.

- 90minutes

 

Red Devils wants Owen, Heinze return to Premier League and more…

- Premiership Talk

 

YNWA,

Red's Fury™

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Michael Owen heading back to Merseyside

Newcastle United were relegated and been put up for sales for the second time. It seems like they no longer afforded a £110,000-a-week player in their roster next season.

So, where is Michael really heading to? Liverpool or Everton? Earlier last month, Rafa Benitez has denied Liverpool making a move for Owen.

"I think it's a different situation to the Robbie Fowler one. Robbie knew it was a fantastic opportunity for him to come back.

"He had been injured and had not played games in a row. And we were looking for a striker of his quality. We were looking for this kind of player.

"He understood clearly what his role was. Michael is younger and still has a lot of years to play, so it is a different situation.

"Clearly he's a top class striker so he will want to play every game. But at this moment we are really pleased with Fernando Torres." – Rafa Benitez, Daily Star.

While our neighbour across the street are understood to be keen on luring the former Liverpool striker to Goodison Park. Report suggested that Everton prepared to rescue Owen from Championship football by tabling a near £50,000-a-week contract.

David Moyes has shortlisted Owen as a possible summer recruit, despite the player’s injury problems and the patchy fitness records of Everton forwards Louis Saha, Yakubu and James Vaughan. Since Owen can certainly leave Newcastle on the ‘Bosman’ rule, Everton still need to pay £4million in terms of wages and signing-on fee, which considerably a good buy for them.

Will Owen takes the pay-cut and say ‘yes’ to Everton?

Stay tune for more transfer news and rumours. Follow me on Twitter.

Get 10% OFF Official Liverpool FC Football Club Merchandise from eXosports. Email me for voucher code.

YNWA,

Red's Fury™

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No money, no talk

Now I'm very pissed! It's already been three weeks since the talk on signing at least one top class player for Liverpool and none of them has show up yet. The question of 'how much we have for transfer budget this summer?' still hasn't been answered by the American owners. Rafa failed to launch a bid on the likes of Samuel Eto'o (£35million), David Villa, Carlos Tevez (£30million), Fernando Torres (£15million), Simao Sabrosa (£11million), Florent Malouda (£17million) and Darrent Bent (£16million) was not due to his inconsistency in the transfer market. It was the owners who has not given the full funding to Rafa for the players he want to bring onboard. Show us the damn money!

We've already missed out on a few targets to rival clubs in the continent such as Daniel Alves to Real Madrid and Gabriel Milito to Juventus. Samuel Eto'o too was out of our range with a hefty price tag. Now David Villa wants to stay with Valencia cos he is under contract until June 2013 and has a buy-out-clause of £100million. £100million! That's insane! While for Carlos Tevez, his desire to leave the Premiership outfit has prompted Inter Milan to offer £34million to West Ham and knocked us and a bunch of premier league suitors out of the race for his signature.

The list of transfer targets are getting shorter. Lyon won't release Malouda unless we met the revised transfer fee from £8million to £17million. This is ridiculous, £17million for a left-winger. Lyon chairman Jean-Michel Aulas has immensely raised the transfer fee just because Chelsea has shown interest on Malouda and want to have a bite on Abramovich's pie. Now Rafa was forced to look for other option elsewhere and long-term target, Simao Sabrosa was his next move. However, Benfica's club president Luis Filipe Vieira will only consider an “incredible offer” as they don’t wish to sell him. There goes our left and right wingers. No money, no talk as my header suggest was rightfully justify our summer transfer transactions.

A report from Charlton said that West Ham has prepare to offer an £18million deal for Darren Bent. But Bent wasn't the actual target we need. We need a strong and big striker and Atletico Madrid's Fernando Torres was up for sales in the summer. Atletico failed to qualify for UEFA Cup means they are expecting to lose Torres and the Premier League big guns will keep an eye on him. Can we compete with Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United? This is our last chance to sign a new striker. The Red Devils has splashed around £50million on new players, Chelsea was successful in signing a player on free transfer, while Gunners signed a young goalkeeper and we only have Andriy Voronin, Lucas Leiva and two Hungarian youngsters. Where are the star players that Gillett and Hicks has promised to buy?

The players named in my poll (Thierry Henry, Samuel Eto'o, David Villa, Darren Bent and Michael Owen) are disappearing one by one except Michael Owen. While, Thierry Henry are unlikely to join us (but we are really love to have him onboard!). Are little MO our only last resorts for a new striker? But Rafa is not very keen on Owen swoop just yet. We are not only losing summer transfer targets, if this situation prolong, Rafael Benitez will says "Adios amigos".



YNWA,
Red's Fury™

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Do we really need Michael Owen?

The answer is YES and NO. Stevie G (MBE) and Jamie Carragher, two of Liverpool's most influential figures have pleads to the club's American owners to bring Michael Owen back to Anfield. While the Reds regimes lack in fire-powers up-front with Craig Bellamy fails to deliver, Dirk Kuyt is a non out-and-out striker, Robbie 'GOD' Fowler was out of contract and Peter Crouch used sparringly throughout the campaign. Yes, we do need a proven goal scorer in the Premier League but Rafa Benitez is less enthusiastic on little MO. With speculation over Michael Owen's 'come and get me for £ 9 million' clause in his Newcastle contract and talked with Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce last week doesn't prompt that he'll commit his future to the club yet. This action hinted his desire to leave Toon Army and to play in European major tournament, the Champions League with a club that interested in his services.

I personally doesn't believe Owen will be the solutions to our strike-force problem. The league are getting more physical each year, Owen small of frame and Rafa's formation 4-5-1, which requires a strong forward, Owen is not suited for holding up the ball and bringing midfielders into play. An interesting poll is still in place for this BIG question at my other blog (located at reds77.spaces.live.com/). Just 16 votes received so far for "Would you like to see Michael Owen back at Liverpool FC ?", 7 peoples voted 'YES', 8 voted 'NO' and 1 'NOT SURE'. What do you think?

I really gutted when little MO left in a hurry to Madrid and it got something to do with the CEO, Rick Parry debatable actions in handling player's contracts. We almost lost Stevie G (MBE) to Chelsea in 2005 due to the CEO's unscrupulous decision to go on a holiday while Gerrard waited frantically for an answer to his contract extension. Rick Parry was once again gone M.I.A. in the transfer deadline last season when little MO wanted to come back from Real Madrid. Unconfirmed news reported that Parry was in a theater and his handphone was switched off on the eleventh hour of the transfer deadline last season. How can he do that? The question is why is he still the CEO of Liverpool Football Club? The recent agenda involving Rick Parry was the tickets allocation for the Athens Finals. There seems to be shortage of tickets made available for Liverpool's loyal supporters.

It's a NO, in my opinion, little MO small of frame, injury prone and not rated highly on Rafa Benitez's shopping list this summer proved that even with a £ 9 million get-out clause will not save Owen from the jail terms this time. Maybe I'm wrong, so what say you?





YNWA,
Red's Fury™

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