Liverpool legend Michael Owen has revealed how he wanted to re-sign with the club in 2009, but Rafa Benítez opted for another striker instead.
Owen joined Liverpool as a youth player in 1991 before breaking into the senior team as a 17-year-old, and scoring in his debut against Wimbledon in May 1997. Over the next eight seasons, the former England star became a lethal striker, scoring 158 goals in 297 appearances for the Reds.
By the turn of the millennium, Owen was the poster boy of English football, scooping two Golden Boots and dazzling at the 1998 World Cup in France. In 2001, the forward led Liverpool to a stunning cup treble — scoring 24 times in 46 games — and became the first Englishman to win Ballon d’Or since 1979.
But injuries started to bite and by 2004, with Liverpool floundering, Owen jumped ship to the Galácticos of Real Madrid. One season later he returned to England with Newcastle, eventually leaving when his contract expired in 2009.
Speaking on Simon Jordan’s ‘Up Front’ podcast, Owen revealed his desire to rejoin Liverpool but that manager Rafa Benítez had other plans.
“When I ran out of contract at Newcastle, I was on a Bosman, I phoned Carra [Jamie Carragher] and I said, ‘speak to the manager and see if he fancies me’.
And he said, ‘No, we’re just about to sign David N’Gog’. So, yeah, basically didn’t need me.
And time moves on, you know, Suarez and Torres. Liverpool aren’t going to wait for me and I’ve got no resentment whatsoever, but I don’t aspect resentment the other way because my first port of call was to go back to Liverpool.”
David N’Gog signed from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2008, one year prior to Owen’s recollection, but Benítez’s decision to stick with the Frenchman left Owen still searching for a club. Eventually Owen signed for Manchester United, but not before almost signing for Merseyside rivals Everton after flying to America to meet David Moyes.
As for N’Gog, his Liverpool career never met the expectations of the promise he showed at a young age. After three seasons at Anfield, scoring just 19 goals, he left for Premier League strugglers Bolton Wanderers before subsequent moves led him to Swansea City, Reims, Ross County and eventually Lithuanian side Žalgiris.
Meanwhile, Owen went on to win the Premier League with Manchester United in 2011 and saw out his career with one season at Stoke City.
