Owen rejects Everton transfer

[Canucklehead]

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) -- Real Madrid striker Michael Owen has turned down a move to Everton, the crosstown rival of his former club Liverpool.

"We have been in contact with Michael and his advisers and unfortunately he doesn't see Everton as a team he would choose at this present time," Everton manager David Moyes said Tuesday.

Owen, who spent the first eight years of his career at Liverpool, is likely to leave Madrid, which recently added Brazilian forwards Robinho and Julio Baptista.

Everton has struggled to attract top players, even though it finished fourth in last season's Premier League to reach the qualifying rounds of the Champions League.

The club plays at Villarreal on Wednesday needing to recover a 2-1 first-leg deficit if it's to reach Europe's premier club competition for the first time since 1970. That's one reason players aren't joining.

"I am trying to reassure fans I am in for most of the big names. We do have money to spend if the right players are available, but getting them in is the problem.

"We offered 10 million pounds ($21.6 million Cdn) for (Netherlands striker) Dirk Kuyt and that was rejected on Aug. 1 by Feyenoord."

Liverpool seems Owen's most likely destination if he returns to the Premier League, especially after Liverpool agreed to sell Czech striker Milan Baros to Aston Villa on Monday for about seven million pounds ($15.1 million Cdn).

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He's coming back to Liverpool

[Madferret]

If I'm a Liverpool fan, I'd rather Baros over Owen.
But I'm not..

[Madferret]

Looks like he might be a Maggie...

Newcastle agrees to fee for Michael Owen
Associated Press
LONDON (AP) - Michael Owen may be returning to Liverpool after all - via Newcastle.

Frustrated at sitting on the bench at Real Madrid, Owen has asked the Spanish club's president, Florentino Perez, for a move. He wants to return to the Premier League and, preferably, Liverpool, where he spent the first eight seasons of his career.

"The (Madrid) president understood and said he would try to help me achieve this," Owen said. "If the transfer cannot be finalized in time I have agreed to go to Newcastle United, but only on a one-year loan. I need to be playing regularly in a World Cup year."

However, Newcastle said Wednesday it had agreed to a club-record transfer fee with Madrid rather than a loan. Madrid confirmed the Magpies' bid and said it had heard nothing from Liverpool.

The Premier League club did not disclose the fee in a statement on its website. Its current record fee is the 15 million pounds ($32.2 million Cdn) paid to Blackburn in 1996 for Alan Shearer. Now it's up to Owen to decide his future.

If he chooses to stay with Madrid, he risks spending most of another season on the bench watching the likes of Ronaldo, Raul Gonzalez, Robinho and Julio Baptista. That's bad news for England, which needs him tuned for next year's World Cup.

If he goes to Newcastle, he'll start alongside former England teammate Shearer but in a misfiring team not in the Champions League. It would also upset Liverpool fans. While Real Madrid and Liverpool are both in Thursday's draw for the group stage of the Champions League, Newcastle failed even to reach the UEFA Cup through the InterToto competition.

Liverpool fans would welcome him back if he rejoined England teammates Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher. He may even provide the goals the club is lacking in its attempt to retain the Champions League trophy and challenge Chelsea in the Premier League.

Rafa Benitez's team scored 14 times in its first five Champions League qualifying games but, since then, the goals have stopped. Liverpool only edged into the group stage on aggregate after Tuesday's 1-0 home loss to CSKA Sofia and has scored once in its first two Premier League games.

Benitez said he isn't looking for another striker even though he sold Milan Baros to Aston Villa on Tuesday. He says he'd prefer to sign a right-winger and a central defender. "I want other players first, I am happy with my five strikers," said the Liverpool manager, who named Bolton midfielder Stelios Giannakopoulos as one of his targets.

"Our chief executive Rick Parry is talking with their chairman about the possibility of a deal. I also spoke to (Bolton manager) Sam Allardyce about the player last night because we need to know if he'd be available. At this moment Stelios is one possibility for us."

Benitez said he did not expect to complete any transfers until after Liverpool return from Friday's European Super Cup final with CSKA Moscow in Monaco. He said he was not worried about the sudden lack of goals. "If we did not create opportunities, I would be worried," he said. "And if we have as many chances on Friday we will win the Super Cup."