From: Real Madrid Fee: £17million (Source: BBC) Let me begin by saying I know it wasn't his fault he was injured for most of his time at Newcastle, but that still doesn't mean the transfer wasn't the worst piece of business ever conducted by a chairman at any club, let alone Newcastle. Bought for a club record £17million, the hype factor went through the roof with a fan-unveiling broadcast live on Sky - Newcastle has a new centre-forward, and the world needed to know. Inevitably comparisons were drawn with the Shearer deal some years before. And Little Michael even went on to score some goals after that. But, for his reported £110,000 a week wage and a contract that inexplicably included a £9 million buy-out clause (even before Mike Ashley came on board), the Owen debacle led to 26 goals in 4 years, before he left for nothing after our relegation to the Championship. Not only had the total package gone way past the £30million mark, but the striker failed time and again to score in the latter half of that season, contributing markedly to his team's relegation with a whimper. The number of one-on-ones missed outweighed chances converted and the loss of Newcastle's Premier League status cost the club yet more money, on top of the pile he's cost in real terms. It's as if Owen was sent undercover to destroy the club from the inside: the 4 year contract shows he was in it for the long-sell, waiting perfectly to time his fitness with the board's decision to employ four managers across one season. Owen then struck, or didn't as the case was, and once relegation was confirmed he swanned off to Man United to pretend he still had it, managing an impressive 5 goals in 31 games before deciding Stoke was close enough to his stables to make people still think he is a professional footballer. Michael Owen has scored 32 career goals since he signed for Newcastle United. That was 8 years ago. So the next time a man on television tells you about Owen's goalscoring ability, you assume that man is either Michael's friend, or a time-traveller sent from the past, unaware that the Michael Owen he knew died in 2004. Did we miss any of the Toon's worst ever Premier League acquisitions? Do any of our picks deserve better treatment? Share your thoughts below in the comments. Unless you're Michael Owen, in which case we'd prefer you left your illogical bleating to your Twitter account.
