Michael Owen has revealed that it 'looked' like he was going to leave Newcastle United for Liverpool until the striker suffered a serious knee injury at the World Cup.
Owen was, of course, set on a return to Liverpool l ong before then when the former England star decided to leave Real Madrid in 2004. In fact, Owen even met Rafa Benitez and Rick Parry, Liverpool's manager and chief executive at the time, at the home of one-time team-mate Bruno Cheyrou.
However, crucially, Liverpool were ultimately unwilling to match Newcastle's club-record offer for Owen of around £16.8m, which left the Ballon d'Or winner with two choices: stay at Madrid or move to Tyneside. Owen was not keen on a move to Newcastle, but agent Tony Stephens told his client they could insert a buyout clause into his four-year contract that gave him the chance to return to his boyhood club at a price that reduced incrementally each year by £4m.
