Michael Owen

Michael Owen was an English striker. He was born on 14 December 1979 in Chester, England.

Michael’s youth career took off and ended in Liverpool, where he prepared for becoming one of the best strikers in the world. The footballer trained in the academy of the Merseyside club and took part in different matches of the youth squad till 1996.

In 2006 Liverpool offered the young talent to pen a contract and join the main team. Michael was glad to have an opportunity to fulfill his potential and did his best to become the prime footballer of England. Owen performed for Liverpool during eight years and everything was going just as the striker had planned, because he became one of the top goalscorers of the club ever. From 1996 till 2004, Michael made 216 appearances and amassed 118 goals for ‘The Reds’.

As it often happens with top-flight clubs, if they want someone, the transfer cost is not a problem. That was the case of Michael, when he was offered a move to Spanish side Real Madrid. Nobody knows, how the striker’s career would have continued if he had not followed the lead of many other players, who had tied up a contract with ‘Los Blancos’. In 2004 Owen finalized a move to the club on a long-term deal, but spent only one year there.

In 2005 Real Madrid bought two Brazilian strikers and there were rumours in mass media that Michael was going to leave Spain. The English player featured in 36 matches of the club and netted 13 goals during the 2004/2005 season.

The same year Owen made a final decision to leave his team and completed a move to Newcastle United on a four-year deal worth about £17 million. From 2005 till 2009, Michael performed for the new club with varied success, because he could not regain confidence in order to get his Liverpool-born scoring flair back. The striker took part in 71 games and fired 26 goals during his spell with ‘The Magpies’.

In 2009 the head coach of Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson, decided to secure Owen’s services, because he thought the footballer had all necessary qualities to become a very important part of the squad. Despite relatively old age and competition from more young and fresh strikers in the team, Michael made occasional appearances. From 2009 till 2012, the footballer featured in 31 games and kicked five goals for MU.

On 5 September 2012, Owen joined Stoke City as a free agent. At the end of the season Michael retired from playing.

In 1997 the footballer took part in five games and contributed four goals for the England national U-20 and U-21 teams. From 1998 till 2008, Michael was capped 89 times and found the net 40 times for the senior national squad. From 2006 till 2007, he also made two appearances for England B.