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Transfers - Michael Owen: The full saga

Eurosport - Mon, 29 Jun 18:16:00 2009

Follow the chain of events that saw Michael Owen linked to a host of clubs after he left Newcastle following their relegation.

2008-2009 Newcastle United Michael Owen - 0

December 14, 2008 - Michael Owen denies that he has rejected a new contract as reports link him to Wigan. Owen: "None of us have been offered a contract so there are no bad guys here, I've not refused anything."

December 15, 2008 - Newcastle boss Joe Kinnear says he will offer Owen a new deal: "I will fight like hell to keep him. I don't see any point taking money for Michael Owen. I would rather have him in my team scoring goals than any amount of cash."

December 22, 2008 - Owen admits that he will not make a decision about his future until the end of the season: "I am committed to the club until at least the end of this season, and I have informed them I do not want to make a decision about my future until that time."

January 2, 2009 - Internazionale boss Jose Mourinho denies that Owen will join the club in the January transfer window. Mourinho: "I never thought of him. Over the last year he has had lots of major injuries and now he is not the Owen we knew."

January 28, 2009 - Martin O'Neill admits that he could bring Owen to Aston Villa. O'Neill: "We would see. Like everything else, football is evolving all the time. That's not to say Michael Owen is not a terrific footballer. What happens in the future, I don't know."

May 15, 2009 - Reports suggest that Michael Owen will retire from football at the end of the season. Owen: "Any suggestion or unfounded speculation that I have any intention of quitting football is totally untrue and wrong."

May 24, 2009 - Newcastle United lose 1-0 to Aston Villa, condemning them to relegation to the Championship. Owen's contract expires.

May 25, 2009 - Villa defender Curtis Davies urges the club to sign Owen. Davies: "I'd love to see him here at Villa if that was an opportunity, although at the same time there will be other clubs sniffing around him. People will say about his wages but, if you are getting him on a free transfer, it offsets that."

June 2, 2009 - Reports suggest Everton manager David Moyes is keen to sign Owen, with a £50,000 a week contract being prepared.

June 8, 2009 - Villa are reported to be interested in making Owen their highest-paid player with a £50,000 weekly wage.

June 9, 2009 - Villa dismiss the above reports without discounting a move for Owen

June 14, 2009 - Wasserman Media Group send a 34-page dossier to clubs outlining Michael Owen's attributes, achievements, playing and fitness record and requirements.

June 17, 2009 - Wigan chief Dave Whelan denies making a bid for Owen, saying his wages are too high while questioning his motivation and injury record.

June 22, 2009 - Hull City boss Phil Brown admits he is interested in taking Owen to the KC Stadium.

June 22, 2009 - Owen says: "I'm still a Newcastle United player but only for a matter of weeks."

June 24, 2009 - Stoke boss Tony Pulis admits he would be "interested in throwing my hat into the ring if it was ever viable". He adds: "He would be a great signing for this football club and he can rest assured our fans would treat him as one of their own."

June 25, 2009 - Stoke chairman Peter Coates says he would be interested in signing Owen but is unsure about his wages and injury record.

June 26, 2009 - Owen is linked with a move to Turkey, with Galatasaray boss Frank Rijkaard reportedly keen on reuniting him with former Liverpool team-mate Harry Kewell.

June 29, 2009 - Olympiacos reportedly enter the bidding for Owen, with a £60,000-a-week offer hugely out-gunning Hull and Stoke's spending power.

Eurosport

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  1. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO­ OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO­ OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO­ OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO­ OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO­ OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO­ OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO­ OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO­ OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO­ OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO­ OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO­ OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO­ OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

    From lesleyanneprice, on Thu 23 Jul 12:19AM

  2. disruptive, hero worshipped until he saw the gold of­ madrid YNWA......your not welcome back

    From Anthony, on Thu 2 Jul 7:02PM

  3. Cameron W: Didn't know I had to declare my­ affiliations. Where does it say that then? Or is this­ something initiated by you? Have you told everybody? -­ You should.
    Poison? Moi? Dates and subjects please.

    From KEVIN P, on Wed 1 Jul 10:45AM

  4. Owen must get back to playing with Heskey.Also at Villa­ their midfield will create more chances then other­ teams and that will help Owen get back his form.Heskey­ is the key and also if Owen can just stay injury free­ for 6 months then he will find his goals again.He is­ still world class even if he has lost a bit of pace­ that is because of all the injuries.But playing with­ heskey is the key again.Goodluck Micheal and I really­ hope you play in the World Cup and go to Villa.

    From Roland, on Wed 1 Jul 9:29AM

  5. LIVERPOOOL

    From berdoowen, on Wed 1 Jul 12:54AM

  6. MICHAEL YOU MUST GO TO

    From berdoowen, on Wed 1 Jul 12:39AM

  7. Hope you sign for galatasaray

    From muzeyyenogut, on Wed 1 Jul 12:20AM

  8. True supporters of Newcastle United - please never­ forget this: News of the World Exposé

    In March 1998,­ Shepherd and Douglas Hall were the target of a News of­ the World exposé, led by the “Fake Sheikh” Mazher­ Mahmood. The pair, believing Mahmood to be a wealthy­ Arab prince trying to set up a business deal, were­ caught mocking the club's own supporters for­ spending extortionate amounts of money on merchandise,­ calling female supporters “dogs”, and mocking star­ striker Alan Shearer by calling him the "Mary­ Poppins of football", all while frequenting a­ brothel.

    Amidst heavy media coverage, the Newcastle­ Independent Supporters Association and the then­ Minister for Sport, Tony Banks, called for the­ resignation of the pair[3]. Although reports from­ sources close to Shepherd initially indicated he was­ contractually unable to resign, he and Hall had both­ left their posts within two weeks of the scandal­ breaking.

    His general approach to running the club, as­ well as the ongoing fallout from the News of the World­ story, earned Shepherd a number of unflattering­ nicknames such as "Fatty Shepherd"[1],the­ "Fat Controller"[2] and "Baron­ Greenback"[3].

    Only ten months after resigning,­ Shepherd and Hall, the majority shareholders at­ Newcastle, voted themselves back on to the board. This­ led to the immediate resignation of the PLC chairman­ David Cassidy, who had taken the position just six­ months earlier. Shepherd then went on to take over as­ PLC chairman.

    WHY WAS THIS PEEACE OF $HIT EVER ALLOWED­ BACK INTO SJP? THE MAN IS A TRAITER

    From SHAUN, on Tue 30 Jun 9:10PM

  9. Michael Owen has been diagnosed with gender identity­ disorder and will soon be having a sex change. He is,­ however, looking at things from a positive stance and­ having trials with the England women's national­ team, so desperate is he to wear the Three Lions skirt­ again. Apparently Fabio Capello is not an advocate of­ playing top town tarts in the men's team. Reuters­ News Agency. Bootle

    From SHAUN, on Tue 30 Jun 9:06PM

  10. post 85 your spot on m8

    From PHIL, on Tue 30 Jun 8:48PM

  11. Neil V........OWEN. . HE'S HAVING A SEX CHANGE AND­ HAVING TRIALS WITH ENGLAND'S WOMEN'S TEAM

    From SHAUN, on Tue 30 Jun 8:03PM

  12. Please. Please. Please. Not Shepherd. Not­ again.

    Shepherd did one good thing while he was in­ charge of Newcastle United. He managed, somehow, to get­ Bobby Robson to manage our club. Everything else he did­ was a disaster, starting with foisting an out of shape,­ and past it, Patrick Kuivert onto Sir Bobby. Kluivert­ was a failure.

    Shepherd then, after probably keeping­ Sir Bobby at the club as it’s manager one season too­ long, under invested in the first team, and watched the­ club fall out of the Champions League. The only­ recruitment that summer was the bad boy ( number 1 )­ Lee Bowyer. Didn’t he set the Toon alight?

    He sacked­ Sir Bobby. He hired Souness and gave him a three year­ contract. ( little blackburn were going to sack Souness­ - but FFS gave him a three year deal ) He sanctioned­ the recruitment of Boumsong, Luque, Babayara ( disgrace­ ) and Owen, to name but a few. They were all massive­ flops and cost the club tens of millions in transfers­ and wages. These signings put the club back years.­ These were all signings made under the directorship of­ Shepherd. Whenever there was a critical decision to be­ made, Shepherd would get it wrong. Always! He then had­ to sack Souness, again costing the club­ millions.

    Then, perhaps not one his worst­ appointments, he went out and got Sam Allerdice, only­ to allow Big Sam to give his best pal ,Alex Ferguson ,­ 5 or 6 million for the Man U flop Alan Smith. He­ sanction a five year deal for this less than average­ player, and wages of 50 plus grand a week. What a­ chump! To make matters worse, Shepherd than sanctioned­ a similar deal for bad boy ( number 2 ) Joey ( I kick­ kids in ) Barton. Where the hell was his thinking?­ Newcastle were laid bare to the Ashley take over­ because of the actions of Shepherd. The man is a­ disgrace and doesn’t have the class to run our club the­ way it should be. Oh yes, he gave his managers money,­ but look at the facts - we paid far too much for­ players who simply weren’t up to the task, and it was

    From SHAUN, on Tue 30 Jun 8:01PM

  13. Debbie
    See you managed to find your way here no bother­ then; all those many years of practice!

    From cameron w, on Tue 30 Jun 7:20PM

  14. You are joking yourself have you noticed nobody is in a­ rush to sign him and the player refuses to sign a play­ and pay deal. He will retire you watch his motivation­ is outside football just ask anyone who knows him.­ There are some guys in Newcastle who know the full­ story. Get over it and forget him.

    From Tony R, on Tue 30 Jun 4:58PM

  15. All you haters are just jelous! Trust me he WILL prove­ you all wrong when he is playing regular matches and­ scoring loads again. He WILL play for England again!!!

    From Neil, on Tue 30 Jun 3:17PM

  16. Owen is overated and useless he should reture no­ because he has no hop eof playing for england again.

    From madarthur10, on Tue 30 Jun 2:59PM

  17. This story is older than the bloody bible now. Give it­ a rest and dump it!

    From Bobby Robson A Legend, on Tue 30 Jun 2:12PM

  18. toon paid owen 115k aweek to stroke his pony,s wood­ thats too much per pull!!!

    From nlwarburton, on Tue 30 Jun 12:55PM

  19. This guy is a waste of money his ability to spend half­ a season on the treatment bench or should i say Horse­ Racing is not what any football club needs. I urge you­ all dont buy leave the big headed ba**ar* on the dole­ and show him what his past commitment to Newcastle­ deserves a big fat ZERO Go play with your horses !!!

    From Ian, on Tue 30 Jun 12:16PM

  20. We will wait you as soon as possible. See you in the­ best team (Galatasaray) of Europe

    From civciv062000, on Tue 30 Jun 7:18AM
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