Michael Owen is eager to return to English Premiership action following his transfer from Spanish giants Real Madrid to Newcastle.
Widely regarded as one of the world’s most exciting leagues, Owen said he had missed the thrill of being involved in English football’s top flight during a 12-month stay in Spain where he spent plenty of time on the bench.
”I wanted to get back to the Premiership. I wanted to play football, I wanted to get that passion back in my game,” the 25-year-old Owen said on Tuesday after signing a four-year contract.
”The Spanish league is fantastic, but it has not got the passion the English Premiership has got.
”The bottom line is, I wanted to come back and play in the Premier League again and wake up on a Saturday morning and really fancy getting out there and playing in front of this fantastic support, scoring goals and enjoying football,” he added.
”That was the bottom line to the whole deal, and then when you hear a manager and a chairman and supporters on the television all making it known that they really want you, then that is certainly a nice thing to hear as well.
”They were very important, but you only have to look at the club, the support they have and the players currently here to realise it is a very big club and an even bigger club waiting to happen.”
Owen arrived in the north-east to a hero’s welcome as about 15 000 Newcastle fans gathered at the club’s St James’ Park ground to welcome the England striker.
And not even the admission that a return to Liverpool was his first-choice destination could dull the enthusiasm of the Newcastle faithful who believe Owen can single-handedly revive a side that is currently second from bottom in the table.
Meanwhile, Owen said he’d spoke to England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson to make sure his international career would not be harmed by a lack of European football in the build-up to next year’s World Cup in Germany.
”The England manager has never put any pressure on me,” Owen insisted. ”OK, it is a World Cup year and it is nice to be playing and playing in England, but if it was not a World Cup year, I would still have had the drive to come back and play in English football.
”I have played in it all my life and it is where I belong. Yes, it is important to be playing in World Cup year, but if it was not World Cup year, I am sure I would still have made the same decision.”
Like fellow former Liverpool striker Ian Rush, who spent a season at Italian powerhouse Juventus, Owen has made a quick return to England after a brief spell abroad. But Owen insisted he does not regard his £8-million move to the Bernabeu as a failure.
”I am quite an inquisitive person, so as soon as I knew of Real Madrid’s interest, I thought, ‘If I live the rest of my life without playing in Europe and playing for a team which is one of the most famous in the world …’, it is a fantastic opportunity. You might like it, you might not.
”Whatever happens, I have got no doubts in my mind now, I can live the rest of my life knowing what it was like,” said Owen, who cost Newcastle about £17-million.
”It was a great experience and hopefully it has made me more rounded as a person, more rounded as a player, and I can bring that back with me.”
Newcastle manager Graeme Souness, himself a former Liverpool captain who subsequently played in Italy for Sampdoria, said he always hoped things might not go according to plan for the striker in Spain.
”When I spoke to Michael at about Christmas time, the way it was panning out in Spain — without wishing to wish him bad luck, I was secretly hoping it would not work out for him in Spain, I have to be honest.
”I felt that we were one of the few clubs around that could excite Michael, and that is how it has turned out.” — Sapa-AFP