After being released by Manchester United at the end of the
season, one of England’s most prolific strikers over the last 15 years for club
and country has to decide on his next move. Will he retire? I don’t think so,
it could only be because of the injury problems that have hampered his career,
but I don’t think he is finished yet or at least I truly wish so as at 32 he
has a good couple of years at the top level. So where could he possibly go? Ever
since his 1st senior goal for Liverpool on 6th May 1996
Michael Owen has scored goals with great consistency virtually every season of
his career. He has proved he is one of the most clinical finishers of a
football in and around the box and if fit, there are many clubs in the Premier
League that would be foolish to overlook him with this in mind.
Firstly let’s
look at the clubs that will almost certainly overlook the England striker this summer. Most of
the top six from the final table of this season (2011-12) will look elsewhere.
Starting with Manchester City and Chelsea as I think these two could well spend
big in the July transfer window and would not be interested in him. The owners
are more interested in the best of the current and upcoming talent from all
over Europe and further afield. Arsenal have already made a new signing up top
by adding Lukas Podolski, but also Arsene Wenger has a policy of only one year
contracts for players in their thirties. Tottenham are believed to be looking
at bring
Emmanuel Adebayor back
to the club on a permanent basis. Newcastle will with a bit of
luck have Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse leading their front line but are the only
club that I think could take a chance on Owen. If they can hold on to those
two, Michael could be a great option to have as I feel Newcastle have nothing
of real quality after that in a goal scorer, although would he want to go back?
I consider there to
be a long list of clubs, including most of the other 14 top flight teams which
would be stronger with an in shape Michael Owen, but would they all suit him. The
first obvious place would be Everton. Not just because he was a boyhood
supporter of the club and the fact that I am also a supporter, but because
Everton have found goals hard to come by over the years with an average of 48.7
goals in the 20 years of the Premier League. Nikica Jelavic has proved he can
score in the Premiership since his January 2012 move and will now have the
pressure to continue that next season. The other strikers at the club have not
proved the same level of finishing and ability as Nikica, but Owen has the
track record that could help Everton have another player that chips in with
goals from the front line and crucially important goals.
Should Liverpool and newly appointed boss Brendan Rodgers
take a gamble on him? It would be an unlikely destination as they have Luiz
Suarez and Andy Carroll in attack, but could be a great choice to throw on with
20-25 minutes to go. Liverpool need a lift, but would the return be the same as
when Robbie Fowler made a comeback to Anfield in January 2006.
There are the
mid table teams in Fulham, West Bromwich Albion, Norwich and Stoke City who
have got a quantity of forward options that have proved they can perform at the
top level in the Premier League, but Owen could provide them with a real
quality striker, if they chose to take a chance on him. All of these teams
possess a striker who is tall and strong and wants to be a ball winning and
Owen may perhaps be that player who plays off the last man, feeding off any
flick on or loose ball. Swansea and
Wigan Athletic like to play quick and attractive football on the floor if
possible, with the Swans having Danny Graham scoring more than ten goals for
them, but the Latics failing to have anyone score with any sort of regularity
during the campaign. Michael could be a genuine hit at either of these clubs
and would be fulfilling the prospect to be playing much more first team
football. Following on from this are Aston Villa and Sunderland who also lack
real options in attack, with Villa scoring less than a goal per game (0.98) and
the Black Cats just more than a goal a game (1.18), to move up the league this
would have to improve and also they have fewer shots per game averaging near
eleven for both teams. Compare this to the top three who have at least 150
shots more this past season and in turn scored more goals. This means finding a
striker that has a knack of scoring goals for teams outside the top 6-8 more
crucial and Owen may possibly be that striker. Queens Park Rangers again would
benefit from a Michael Owen but with the club being able to spend some money
and many options currently in the forward department, it would not be a smart
move to go to Loftus Road. The three promoted teams all require a proven goal
scorer in the premiership, which right now everyone lacks and an England
international in their squad would be a very good call to aid in the heightened
aim of all promoted teams, to survive because of the sadly pressured thirst for
finance to even just hold on to players.
On a personal level it would be great to see Michael Owen
pull on an Everton jersey, and the other team it would be a joy at is my local
team of Chester Football Club, where Michael presented the end of season awards
recently. Realistically that is a long shot, but could he even move to a team
in Europe or is Real Madrid the only foreign team on his football C.V. Any
other potential options I would love to hear from people on where they think he
may go.
He may have lost a yard of pace but around the box and with a yard of space he can still be a threat at the top level as this video and many others prove.
