Owen signals intention to stick with Newcastle

[Jimbo 133]

Newcastle United are increasingly confident that Michael Owen will remain at the club next season, a development that will provide early validation for the new regime at St James’ Park. While Manchester United and Liverpool harbour an interest in the England striker, other targets are being pursued more vigorously, allowing his present employers to plan for life with their record signing in tow.

 

That news will be welcomed by Sam Allardyce, the manager, as well as by supporters, whose delight at the prospect of Mike Ashley’s £133 million takeover has been tempered by speculation surrounding Owen and Obafemi Martins, his teammate. Both forwards have release clauses in their respective contracts, but it is thought unlikely that Owen’s will be triggered this summer.

 

United’s pursuit of the 27-year-old stretches back to the World Cup finals, when Owen suffered a serious knee injury. Liverpool rivalled Newcastle for his signature in the summer of 2005, but were not prepared to match the £16 million fee accepted by Real Madrid and it is understood that Rafael BenÍtez, the manager at Anfield, is ambivalent towards their former player.

 

Public discussion regarding the existence of a £9 million get-out clause infuriated Freddy Shepherd, the Newcastle chairman, who called upon Owen to commit himself to the club. That declaration has not followed, although Owen has never expressed any desire to leave Tyneside and used a recent column in The Times to confirm that he had enjoyed “a good chat” with Allardyce.

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Glenn Roeder’s replacement intends to transform the culture at Newcastle into a replica of the system he employed at Bolton Wanderers – where emphasis was placed on psychology, sports science and innovations in diet and fitness – and Owen has been impressed by his vision. In Mark Viduka and Joey Barton, there have already been two quality additions to the squad.

 

Owen’s continued presence would also be a coup for Ashley, the billionaire businessman, who has assumed control at Newcastle. Ashley’s ambitions are high and that task will be assisted by Owen’s marketing potential and talent for scoring goals. Since joining Newcastle two years ago, he has been limited to 13 starts for the club because of injury and has acknowledged that he has yet to provide value for money.

 

Martins could leave for £13 million, £3 million more than Roeder paid Inter Milan ten months ago. Juventus have been linked with the 22-year-old, who scored 17 goals in his first season at Newcastle, and Arsène Wenger’s admiration for the Nigeria forward may be hardened if Thierry Henry leaves Arsenal; Martins this week spoke of his desire to stay on Tyneside.

 

If it is not dismantled, Allardyce’s striking quartet of Owen, Martins, Viduka and Shola Ameobi should be formidable and he has taken steps to bolster the rearguard. Having missed out on Tal Ben Haim, who joined Chelsea on a free transfer, he is expected to sign David Rozehnal, 26, the Paris St-Germain defender, for about £3 million and is also monitoring Sami Hyypia, of Liverpool, and Habib Beye, of Marseilles.

[JawD 31]

I do wonder if Sven at City could dislodge him. There new regime puts them in a similar position to us and a few other clubs under new ownership. You do wonder if we have the most to do to turn things around, not just on the field but behind the scenes.

 

I do think Owen will stay, at least until the winter break where he may at least evaluate things.

 

On the signings, Id like to see us making more progress towards a new back line. We seem to be constantly linked to forwards but Im pretty much dismissing them all.

 

Hopefully we'll hear today on Rozehnal. Seems to be us or Sevilla (which you might easily think as Uefa Cup winners they would have the bigger pull).

[Gemmill 35980]

Man City are a bigger mess than we are. I see that as a "bad to worse" move for Owen tbh. I don't think it'll happen.

[ewerk 26982]

 

Hopefully we'll hear today on Rozehnal. Seems to be us or Sevilla (which you might easily think as Uefa Cup winners they would have the bigger pull).

 

I thought it was us and Dortmund?

[Baggio 0]

 

Hopefully we'll hear today on Rozehnal. Seems to be us or Sevilla (which you might easily think as Uefa Cup winners they would have the bigger pull).

 

I thought it was us and Dortmund?

 

That was earlier in the week.

[Bombadil 0]

I'm not worried at all about Owen wanting to join Man City. He'll be off like a shot if one of the Top 4 come in for him, but he won't move to a club that's in a worse state than we are.

[Norbert Colon 0]

I think its a total disgrace that the reporter from sky was interviewing shinawatara last night and was touting owen around asking if it was goin to be his first signing - cheeky twat - Man city as if

[snakehips 0]

Should we be re-negotiating Owen's contract NOW ?

 

Telling him we want to remove this decreasing sell-on clause and if he doesn't like it then sell him??

 

If Owen does well, he will be off for a pittance in Jan or next summer it seems and maybe it would be better to just change his contract or sell him before we go any further.

 

I don't think for one minute Owen would agree to a change in his contract so maybe a parting of the two now would be the best for both parties?

[ewerk 26982]

I don't think for one minute Owen would agree to a change in his contract so maybe a parting of the two now would be the best for both parties?

 

You're right he won't change his contract. He holds all the cards, we can't offer him more money and if we agree a fee with a club he can simply turn round and say he doesn't want to sign for him and we're then left with a fall out between the club and our best paid player.

[Scottish Mag 3]

 

I don't think for one minute Owen would agree to a change in his contract so maybe a parting of the two now would be the best for both parties?

 

Hes going to fuck off in 6 months or 12 months so I agree we should just get rid now unless he signs a new contract it would be much better to get his replacement in now than having to try and rebuild again next season.

[Mowen 0]

I thought Owen's release clause was similar to Bellamy's at Rovers in that only CL clubs could activate it?

[Guest alex]

Owen lets us know his attempts to manufacture a move to one of the top four has failed tttt.

[manc-mag 1]

Owen lets us know his attempts to manufacture a move to one of the top four has failed tttt.

 

Aye.

 

As for Citeh, it would be a complete joke move, but it would allow him to commute from home in Chester. Bless him.

[Tom 13915]

Dangerous journalism that,

 

couldve gone for the easy ''Owen to anyone for £9m''

[Sima 0]

Like I've said before, the time to recoup anywhere near the release clause on Owen is now. He holds all of the cards next summer with his contract being up the following season.

[Craig 6328]

Just stop for a second and forget this opinion some of you have that "Owen is going to fuck off in 6-12 months anyway so sell him now" and answer this:

 

Do you want him to play for us or not? If you do then give up with the "i hope the money-grabbing twat fucks off now" comments because the only effect that will have is similar to Scott Parker - he'll see the fans don't want him and move on.

 

Plus in 6-12 months we could well be one of the top 4. He's far and away the best striker we have at the club, we're about to delist from the stock exchange and be owned by a billionaire. Lets think about the football first for a change.

[Scottish Mag 3]

Just stop for a second and forget this opinion some of you have that "Owen is going to fuck off in 6-12 months anyway so sell him now" and answer this:

 

Do you want him to play for us or not? If you do then give up with the "i hope the money-grabbing twat fucks off now" comments because the only effect that will have is similar to Scott Parker - he'll see the fans don't want him and move on.

 

Plus in 6-12 months we could well be one of the top 4. He's far and away the best striker we have at the club, we're about to delist from the stock exchange and be owned by a billionaire. Lets think about the football first for a change.

 

Craig it was me that said "Owen is going to fuck off in 6-12 months anyway so sell him now" but I never said "i hope the money-grabbing twat fucks off now" and as well as giving a reason as to why I think it may be in our best interests for him to go now I also stated that it should be done IF he does not sign a new contract, as did Snakehips.

Edited June 22, 2007 by Scottish Mag

[Gemmill 35980]

Ritchie hates him cos he's English - FACT!

[Gemmill 35980]

By the way, I don't know that I would accuse anyone on here of it, but Newcastle fans (maybe more than other fans) do have this thing where they're a bit precious about players having to LOVE playing for us. I don't really give a monkey's if Michael Owen desperately wants to be here, and I could think of a million reasons why he wouldn't, but if we can keep him fit, we're a better team with him here than without him. Which is good enough for me.

[snakehips 0]

Ritchie hates him cos he's English - FACT!

 

And I hate him 'caus he's not a Geordie

[Craig 6328]

By the way, I don't know that I would accuse anyone on here of it, but Newcastle fans (maybe more than other fans) do have this thing where they're a bit precious about players having to LOVE playing for us. I don't really give a monkey's if Michael Owen desperately wants to be here, and I could think of a million reasons why he wouldn't, but if we can keep him fit, we're a better team with him here than without him. Which is good enough for me.

 

Amen

 

Ritchie, it wasn't a dig at anyone in particular, it's the general concensus that's seeming to become apparent. I think it's in the best interests of us from a footballing point of view to keep a hold of him as long as possible.

[Papa Lazaru 0]

By the way, I don't know that I would accuse anyone on here of it, but Newcastle fans (maybe more than other fans) do have this thing where they're a bit precious about players having to LOVE playing for us. I don't really give a monkey's if Michael Owen desperately wants to be here, and I could think of a million reasons why he wouldn't, but if we can keep him fit, we're a better team with him here than without him. Which is good enough for me.

 

Amen

 

Ritchie, it wasn't a dig at anyone in particular, it's the general concensus that's seeming to become apparent. I think it's in the best interests of us from a footballing point of view to keep a hold of him as long as possible.

 

So do i, we don't know how well next season may go and how likely it then may be that Owend ecides to stay longer term. The fact remains he is one of the worlds top goal scorers and will make a massive difference to us if he stays and plays next season.

 

Gemmill is right though about the precious fans who expect every player to love the club the same way we do and acknowledge its the greatest honour possible to play for the toon! As long as he (or anyone else) is fully committed when playing and scoring goals how much he loves the club or not doesn't bother me.

[Tooj 17]

By the way, I don't know that I would accuse anyone on here of it, but Newcastle fans (maybe more than other fans) do have this thing where they're a bit precious about players having to LOVE playing for us. I don't really give a monkey's if Michael Owen desperately wants to be here, and I could think of a million reasons why he wouldn't, but if we can keep him fit, we're a better team with him here than without him. Which is good enough for me.

 

Amen

 

Ritchie, it wasn't a dig at anyone in particular, it's the general concensus that's seeming to become apparent. I think it's in the best interests of us from a footballing point of view to keep a hold of him as long as possible.

 

So do i, we don't know how well next season may go and how likely it then may be that Owend ecides to stay longer term. The fact remains he is one of the worlds top goal scorers and will make a massive difference to us if he stays and plays next season.

 

Gemmill is right though about the precious fans who expect every player to love the club the same way we do and acknowledge its the greatest honour possible to play for the toon! As long as he (or anyone else) is fully committed when playing and scoring goals how much he loves the club or not doesn't bother me.

That's the issue right there.

[Shearergol 0]

Craig, you honestly think we could be in the top 4?

 

Personally I'd rather us get as much for Owen as possible now, and replace him with Anelka.

[Craig 6328]

Craig, you honestly think we could be in the top 4?

 

We could, yes....

 

The remainder of this summer will define how possible that will be though. As has been alluded to already, given the fixture lists we should definitely be in the top four towards the end of November.