32 Greatest footballers in the history of the English Premier League - Part 18
18. Michael Owen:
Michael Owen is a professional football player who plays as a striker. He is currently playing for the English club Manchester United after he joined them from Newcastle United as a free agent.
Michael Owen is a son to the former football player Terry Owen. The English striker started to play professional football from the English side Liverpool as he learned from their youth academy. After making it to the first team squad in 1996, it took Micahel Owen a whole year to score his debut goal which finally came in May 1997. In his first full English Premier League season, Michael Owen managed to end up as a joint top scorer. He was such a talented finisher that he kept on repeating his amazing goal scoring records for eight years straight. The English striker was the top scorer for the Merseyside club for 8 years straight; from 1997-2004. Even though he had a “bad” hamstring injury, Michael Owen still scored the goals that were required from him and was still the top scorer for the English club Liverpool.
Despite such great performances, his first major honour for Liverpool came in the year 2001 when the club won a treble by winning a UEFA Cup, an FA Cup and a Football League Cup. That very year, Michael Owen was the recipient of the Ballon d’Or award. He bagged himself 118 goals in only 216 appearances for Liverpool in the English Premier League.
In mid 2004, Michael Owen made a “surprise” move to the Spanish La Liga giants Real Madrid. The Spanish team were at the top of their game during that year and Real Madrid were famous for signing all the big stars and it was honour enough for Owen as his transfer fees was agreed. The price tag given to Owen was 8 million pounds; however, the English player was mostly used as a substitute on the Spanish team. Even though he was usually used to warm the bench, he still managed to find the net 13 times in the Spanish La Liga. That year, in the Spanish La Liga, Michael Owen’s goal scoring ratio was the highest compared to the number of minutes that he was on the field.
Michael Owen’s move to the Spanish team was not successful despite such a good goal scoring record because it was seen that they barely needed him on the field and he did not have a spot in the first team. The former Liverpool man had to return to the English Premier League to start featuring as a regular player. The English striker was taken in by the English club Newcastle United as they took him for 16 million pounds.
Michael Owen had a really good start with the new team that he joined. However, injuries totally thrashed his amazing goal scoring form. After being out for 18 months, Owen returned for the zebras and was given the captain’s armband. In the 2007-2008 season, Michael Owen found the spark that he was lacking in the previous season and scored the highest number of goals for his team. After the final season with Newcastle United, as he only joined them for four years, the team’s captain saw them being relegated and he joined the Red Devils Manchester United as a free agent.
For Manchester United, Michael Owen has barely made any appearances but his vital score against Manchester City in the last second will always be remembered by all the Manchester United fans. He came on for only 5 minutes and still managed to score from inside the box after a great ball from the Manchester United legend, Ryan Giggs.
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