Liverpool’s top scorer for pretty much every season prior to him leaving in the summer says he’d have nothing against a return to Anfield.
Michael Owen, now 25, joined Real Madrid from Liverpool last August for 8 million pounds. However, in what’s been a turbulent season at Real, he’s only actually started 12 league games. He’s still managed to score 10 goals though, and is actually ahead of Raul (6 from 24 starts) and only slightly behind Ronaldo (12 goals in 24 starts).
It is reported that Raul is the main obstacle to Owen getting a regular starting place for his new club. Real are reportedly managed by their directors rather than their managers, and the numerous managers of this season have all been told they have to pick Raul, regardless of his form.
Raul recently told Michael Owen, through the world’s press, that if he’s not committed to Real Madrid, he should leave.
In an interview for Shoot magazine, Owen was asked if he’d return to Anfield. He answered: “I would have nothing against it if I had to move. It is well documented that I don’t like sitting on the bench.”
OWen left Liverpool in a rushed move in many ways – his contract was coming to an end and the then-new boss Benitez did not want to risk losing him on a Bosman free transfer. Owen says his departure was amicable: “I left Liverpool on good terms, they are still the first result I look out for and I have a lot of friends there. I have no bitterness at all towards Liverpool and they are still a club very close to my heart.”
Owen though is still hopeful that his appearances will increase, but is also concerned about his place as England’s vice-captain and first-choice striker: “Let’s hope things improve and I don’t have to sit on the bench too much. That obviously wouldn’t do my situation any good.”
Owen is due to marry in the summer, and is feeling some pangs of homesickness. Owen, who actually lives in Wales, said: “I do miss certain things about not being in England – being around your family, your friends, being in your house. I had just had my house reshaped and virtually the minute it was finished I was leaving. It is my dream house (with) two dogs, my horse and all the land that I want. I got it perfect for living in and then I had to uproot.”
From where Owen’s dream home is located, he’d be limited in terms of which Premiership clubs he could play for if he wanted to live in that house. Whether Liverpool could afford him now is another consideration – his transfer fee will be higher now than the 8 million pounds that Real paid for him, with him only one year into a very good contract.