10 Players Who Probably Regret Joining Real Madrid
6. Michael Owen
The summer of 2004 was the original Suarez/Torres-gate drama on Merseyside. When Real Madrid prized Liverpool gem Michael Owen away from the club in an £8 million deal following a disappointing Euro 2004 outing, that was the moment when his reputation on Merseyside became smeared. With supporters up in arms at the treacherous decision to walk out on the club in the wake of the new Benitez era, following the trundles of money put towards his injury rehabilitations, Owen was immune to the whistles and boos. He only had eyes for the most famous club in the world, and joining David Beckham on the hallowed Bernabeu turf. Following in the footsteps of Alfredo di Stefano, Ferenc Puskas and Raul would be no mean feat, but at least he had taken the first step.
Owen scored 18 goals for Los Blancos a considerable effort, considering only 15 of his 41 appearances were starts. At one point, Michael Owen was the deadliest British striker of all time. He was loved and worshipped by Liverpudlians. Fast forward a decade, and Owen finished his career in a tepid and meek fashion, rolling the curtain down at Stoke City. Characteristic of what he had become due to a spate of poor decisions, nobody seemed to care for Owen any more. Liverpool fans had disowned him for the betrayal that was his 2009 move to Manchester United, where he never really endeared himself to the Old Trafford faithful due to his Anfield connections. His time at Newcastle was spent mostly in the treatment room, and there still lingers an air of resentment about the manner in which the supposed club captain performed throughout the clubs relegation season.
Should he have stayed at Liverpool after all? Its common knowledge that he never really wanted the move to St. James Park in 2005, citing them as a second-choice option to the club he had walked out on 12 months earlier.
''I have an attachment to Liverpool so if that deal could have happened then that would have been one big option but, as the deadline approached, I didnt see any way that one would be possible. Michael Owen, 2006.
Forced to hold out for Benitez to really make a genuine play for him and risk another season on the bench in a World Cup year, or to get some regular games under his belt he reluctantly signed for a consistently inconsistent Newcastle side. Oh, what might have been for the former European Footballer of the Year.