Liverpool FC Forum

[anfieldadorer]

Hopefully so but weird reason

[zackboxer]

I'd prefer Owen to stay but after 15 months of negotiation about a new contract, it's time to get it sorted one way or another.
All this speculation of eve of a new season is the last thing we needed.
Come on Michael stop being a pain in the a.rse and sign the bloody contract ! 

[Ciggy]

Havent we got the manager won the spanish league anyway    He wont be goin nowere im not atall worried plus he cant buy a whole street of houses in spain for his family cause there jobs are all in chester

[anfieldadorer]

Owen thinking over move to Real Madrid
Reuters
London, August 10

Liverpool striker Michael Owen is considering a move to Real Madrid, according to British newspaper reports on Tuesday.

Real are willing to pay $18.41 million in cash for Owen while sending 15 million pounds-rated Fernando Morientes or Real Mallorca's Samuel Eto'o to Liverpool in a package deal worth 25 million pounds, the reports said.

The Madrid club own a 7 million pound stake in Eto'o and would have to pay Mallorca 8 million pounds to conclude the package deal, the newspapers said.

England international Owen's contract at Liverpool runs out at the end of this coming season, when he would be able to leave the club on a free transfer.

Owen told reporters last week he could agree a new contract with the club before the premier league season starts on August 14.

The 24-year-old striker scored 19 goals last season for Liverpool and is in their squad for the Champions League third qualifying round, first leg tie with Graz AK in Austria later on Tuesday.

[woof woof !]

Whats really p*ssing me off is MOs' insistence that "it's not about money, I want to win things " Hello Michael !!! so do we !!!!  You don't just join a team that is winning things you help BUILD one. And by the way what did Madrid or Barca win last season ??? FCK ALL .

[begintoend]

Nice one there woof!

[DAV]

Less than a week till kick off.
this is bad news
lots of sales  and loans but only 2 signins
still optamistic about the new season, but i hope some new guys come in and quick especially on the right side of midfield

[Paul C]

I have full faith in Beni, he is trimming the squad as some of the players are good enough and some need experience and will come back to the club better players.  Cisse and Josemi look good players so thats a possitive.

I am disappointed with MO, if he had been talking for a couple of months and no signature then I could maybe understand but over a year of discussions makes me think, is the lad really commited to LFC? I'm not sure

[anfieldadorer]

REAL READY FOR OWEN SWOOP
Sky Sports, Tuesday 10th August 2004



Real Madrid are reported to be preparing a move for Liverpool striker Michael Owen, as doubts over his Anfield future continue to grow.
Talks over Owen's new two-year deal are believed to have broken down after hitting a late snag and leaving his future in major doubt.

The news is thought to have alerted Real and they are planning to make a deal to bring him to El Santiago Bernanbeu, as they continue their policy of signing more top stars.

Reports claim that Owen's agent Tony Stephens and his father Terry have flown to Madrid to open talks over a move to the Spanish capital.

The Spanish giants are believed to be ready to offer Liverpool £10 million for the England international plus either Fernando Morientes or Samuel Eto'o as a ready made replacement for Owen.

News of Real's interest is something of a surprise as they already have a plethora of strikers at the club and it would be unsure whether or not Owen would make the team.

Also Eto'o appears to be on his way to Barcelona therefore ruling a possible swap deal for Owen, while Madrid have made it clear that Arsenal skipper Patrick Vieira is their top transfer target.

Liverpool could be prepared to do a deal for Owen, as his contract at Liverpool runs out at the end of this season and he would be able to leave on a free transfer.

The Reds would loathe losing him on a free transfer like they did Steve McManaman in 1999 and could well decide the time is right to cash-in on him.

Owen has travelled with the rest of the the Liverpool squad to Austria for Tuesday's UEFA Champions League qualifier with Grazer AK, but he may not play as it could put off potential buyers if he were cup-tied from Europe's top club competition.

Reports claim Liverpool are unwilling to play him in Austria, as it would drastically reduce his transfer value.

Reds boss Rafa Benitez was remaining coy over Owen's future and his participation against GAK.

"I have nothing to say about his contract. Michael has travelled and I can use him if I want," said Benitez

"I can pick him and if he plays, it is because he is the right player for the game. If he does not, it is because another player is considered better, nothing more than that."

The news comes as something of a surprise as Owen just last week claimed he was close to agreeing his new deal at Anfield, but if Owen does not take to the field against the Austrian champions, it will give the strongest indication yet that he is set to leave Liverpool.

[Homebooby]

again, I come back to what I said at the beginning of the thread...I don't think that it is related to money (unless Rafa is dumb enough to ask him to take a pay cut), this is all about ego.

No matter how he tries to play the innocent blue eyed boy role, he has always come across to me as someone who operates pretty shrewedly. In an age when all other players were showing out and going off the rails....he raised his profile as being the consummate professional and secured his position as no.1 striker at liverpool. He played a good game against Robbie Fowler and allowed him to hang himself and stepped into his boots (in my opinion). Under Houllier, he was always no.1 choice, regardless of his performance, which, as has been noted in several posts here, has been substandard on his terms for several seasons now.

new manager comes in along with new players......he faces competition for his place. He is in a position of relative power at the moment in that he has 1 year left on his contract and I'll put money on it that he wants a guarantee that he will be given top slot under Rafa. I'll also put money on the fact that Rafa is having none of it....either you play and put up, or you shut up and leave....which has left us in this situation.

Rafa is not stupid enough to kick him out of the club...he can see the job he'd do for us....but it is Rafa running the show and noone else.

As I said before, I hope Owen stays....but if he does go, he'll have finally shown his true colours

[anfieldadorer]

OWEN TALK INEVITABLE, SAYS HENCHOZ

Swiss defender Stephane Henchoz will understand if Liverpool leave Michael Owen out of the Champions League third qualifying round first leg against Austrian champions Graz AK.

Owen has yet to sign a new contract, and if he plays will be cup-tied for the rest of the season in any UEFA competition.

That would slash his transfer value if contract negotiations break down and the England striker does leave Anfield.

Barcelona have made an enquiry and Real Madrid are watching the situation, and neither would be so interested if Owen ended the week unable to play for any other club in European competition.

The shadow of Owen's contract has shrouded the build-up to this crucial match on which £13million is riding as Liverpool bid to reach the lucrative group stages.

Henchoz, who also has a contract to sort out, sees the problem.

He said: "It is a normal question to ask about Michael, as he has only one year left on his contract and with the Bosman rule you know that a player so valuable is obviously somebody who will be spoken about like this.

"He signs or maybe he goes, because the club do not want to lose everything. It is for him to make the decision.

"If he is happy at the club and wants to play for the club he will renew his contract and everything will be finished. It is Michael who is the only one who can say that one way or the other."

If Owen plays, it virtually ensures that he will be signing a new deal. But with speculation of an 11th-hour hitch in negotiations, the nagging doubts about Owen's future have surfaced again after 15 months of painful talking.

It is the last thing that new coach Rafael Benitez wants at a time when he is trying to rebuild the squad and ensure Liverpool have a season of top European combat to look forward to.

With 10 players having left and Danny Murphy looking for a new club after his proposed move to Spurs fell through, Benitez is facing a delicate balancing act.

And Henchoz warns that Graz will be a tough nut to crack. He said: "We need a good result, we must perform well. If we do that the result will come and at Anfield in two weeks we will be able to finish the job.

"Graz have won the double, they have improved as a club over 10 years. The are unknown to most people but at home they will give us a very difficult game. We will have to perform well to go through.

"They have the top scorer in the Austrian league, they are big and quick and very aggressive. Always dangerous."

Henchoz believes Liverpool are getting their act together, even though Graz are already four games into their domestic season and top of the table again.

He said: "In the States we had two good games and one, against Porto, was not so good. We were trying to play a certain way, to be more offensive. But you cannot win things without a good defence, a good unit.

"When we have the ball we must attack as quick as we can. Most goals come from four passes at pace, that is what we must achieve.

"We have fought for several months and are one step away from the real Champions League. We talked about nothing else for months. We do not want to fail now after all that effort when we are within touching distance of what we want.

"Newcastle found out how tough it can be to lose at this stage. We do not want to have the same thing happen to us."

[Homebooby]

i disagree with the statement that this is the last thing that Rafa would want at this stage. Management is all about tough situations and tough decisions....he's more than capable of dealing with this one.

Better to sort out who's with you now at the start of the season than somone who doesn't really want to be there throughout the season.

Come on Mikey boy......it's decision time.......your anfield history is safe....no one can take that away, it's safe.

Now do you want to gamble and go for Bullys' special prize or not?

;-)

[maximus]

I don't know whether this has been mentioned on the thread yet.

Watching Sky Sports News this morning, they had an interesting interview with well respected spanish reporter Giam Ballagei. he said there is nothing in the papers in Spain re: the Owen transfer whatsoever

He has spoken to Perez and he has 'confirmed' that they are concentrating their efforts on landing Viera. Camacho, the Real coach has also insisted they DO NOT want any morer forwards and are looking at a central defender, namely Collocini. Apparently perez has also insisted that madrid have made mistakes in the past, and signed players for marketing/football reasons ('Galacticos') and not necessarily the chioce of the coach, they are re-adressing this with the appointment of Camacho.

Perez, is not even in spain, as he is going to watch Madrids Champions league qualifier.   

there is no doubt though that we will know by tonight, we know Owen is fit, and we also know if all things being equal Owen and Cisse will start, so f Owen does not play, then there is proof that there is serious mileage in this speculation.

We wait and see

[azriahmad]

Owen has not really been at his full potential over the past season and with the uninspiring performances for England at the Euro 2004, his market value would have taken quite a tumble.

It is quite difficult to envisage Real Madrid chasing him as they are more in need of a holding midfielder and Patrick Viera is surely very much coveted by almost any coach in Europe at this moment.

Morrientes has been more prolific in the European competition than Owen. Camacho, being Spanish, would covet Morrientes more than Owen to play in his team in the Spanish league.

[anfieldadorer]

Real Madrid officials have reportedly told Spanish daily Marca that there is no truth in the rumours linking them with a move for Michael Owen. The British press had claimed that Real were willing to pay Liverpool £10 million plus Fernando Morientes or Samuel Eto’o in return for the England internatioal who has just a year left on his Anfield contract. Real coach Jose Antonio Camacho has made it clear that reinforcements in the defensive and midfield positions are his top priority. Meanwhile, Real Sociedad are hoping that the Merengues come back with an improved bid for Xabi Alonso. The Basques are reported to have turned down a 12 million euro bid from Liverpool for the player.