Michael Owen joined Newcastle United from Real Madrid in 2005.
Newcastle United have a wealth of history when it comes to top strikers.
Whether it be the heroic Alan Shearer or the legendary Jackie Milburn, Toon supporters have had their fair share of goalscoring heroes.
So when Michael Owen joined the Magpies in 2005, it was expected that he would become the latest name on the long list of iconic Newcastle number nine’s, that however would not be the case.
Legal battles and injuries galore, Owen’s time on Tyneside would be one filled with turmoil and frustration.
Michael Owen Newcastle career
Arguably the most anticipated signing since Alan Shearer, over 20,000 Toon fans packed into St James’ Park to witness Owen’s unavailing as a Newcastle player.
Arriving from European giants Real Madrid for a then-club-record fee of £17m, Owen was expected to take up the goalscoring burden from Shearer, who was nearing retirement.
Only days into his Newcastle career, however, Owen injured his thigh in a pre-season friendly, going on to miss the start of the 2005/06 season – something that would become a regular occurrence during his Mgapies career.
A hat-trick against West Ham United in December led fans to believe that was the kick-start of Owen’s Toon career, later that month however the striker would break a metatarsal bone in his foot.
Owen’s time on the treatment table would only continue, later damaging his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) against Sweden at the 2006 World Cup – an injury that would ultimately rule him out for nearly a year.
This later led to an unsavory legal battle between Newcastle and the FA, with the Magpies requesting compensation for the injury Owen sustained while on international duty.
Returning from injury in April 2007, the former Madrid striker would undergo a small resurgence during the 2007/08 season under Kevin Keegan – scoring 13 goals in 33 appearances whilst captaining the side.
The following season however would see the controversy resume as Owen refused to sign a new deal, whilst Newcastle themselves underwent a turmoil-filled season.
With Newcastle fighting for their lives having already gone through four managers that season, Owen’s former teammate Alan Shearer was appointed in an attempt to save the Magpies from the drop.
Shearer would ultimately fail to save his boyhood club from relegation, Owen meanwhile would end his Toon career in the worst possible fashion – allegedly refusing to play in Newcastle’s relegation six-pointer against Fulham.
Owen would leave Newcastle at the end of the 2008/09 season following the end of his contract, later joining Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United on a free transfer.
What did Owen say about his Newcastle move?
Owen reflected on his Tyneside spell in his 2019 autobiography ‘Reboot: My Life, My Time’, telling readers he “really regrets” his Newcastle move.
“My move to Newcastle was one I really regret because I should have followed my gut instincts from the start,” Owen said.
“I didn’t want to go there and my heart was set on a return to Liverpool. Florentino Pérez told me if I wanted to stay I could stay and if I wanted to go I could go.”
Owen then added: “A move to the north east was a downward step. If I only thought of money, Newcastle blew everyone out of the water as they were offering me £120,000 a week.
“But my feelings weren’t a reflection on Newcastle specifically. I didn’t want to sign with any club that wasn’t Liverpool.”
In a 2023 interview on Rio Ferdidand’s FIVE channel, the former Newcastle striker expanded on his failed Liverpool move, insisting it nearly broke his heart.
“Everyone knows that I grew up playing for Liverpool in the academy and everything else,” Owen told FIVE.
“When I left to go to Madrid and I wanted to come back home, I wanted to go to Liverpool. That was where my heart was.
“Once I went to Newcastle, that almost broke my heart in a way that I wasn’t going back to what I had perceived as my club.”
Later in his autobiography, Owen also opened up about his fractious relationship with the Newcastle supporters, even going on to criticise the stature of the club.
“My relationship with them was damaged beyond repair when I was stretchered off against Watford and they sang ‘what a waste of money’.”
Owen then stated: “That changed things for me. The love affair, if you could call it that, was almost over.
“There is a kind of blind delusion that is especially true of Newcastle, who are only a big club in the sense that they have a lot of fans and a big stadium.
“They’re historically not successful off the pitch, in fact quite the opposite and they’ve not won much on it in recent times.”
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