10 Players Who Stole A Living From Newcastle United

6. Michael Owen

In the grand scheme of things, when former England marvel Michael Owen was on the pitch, he wasn't a bad player for Newcastle. His goal record of 26 in 71 wasn't embarrassing, considering how much time he spent recovering from injury, and he did appear to do his best to endear himself to the Newcastle faithful for a while there. But then Owen effectively deserted Newcastle when they most needed him, abandoning his on-pitch post during the relegation season long before the club went down as he chose to make a public announcement that he had no intention of signing a new contract at the club. That year he scored 8 goals in 28 appearances, but after starting the pre-season campaign with a case of mumps, it looked like he'd never really made it off his sick-bed properly, as he ghosted through matches and looked a shadow of the player who had signed for the club. Though Owen is keen nowadays to paint his efforts in black and white in a favourable light, the eye-watering transfer fee paid to land him and the reportedly astronomical wages required to tempt him to the North East vastly - and comically - outweighed the effort he put in, and it is painfully clear that he became very rich thanks to Newcastle, who never saw the best of him.