Michael Owen has signed a new contract at Manchester United. Despite making only 17 appearances for the champions last season, with only 1 of them being a Premier League start (in which he was subbed at half-time), Sir Alex Ferguson has given the striker another year at Old Trafford. However, with Owen turning 32 later this year, is this to be the last season we see Owen in professional football?
When Owen burst onto the scene at Liverpool in 1997 he soon became one of the hottest talents in England. By the age of 23 he had won 2 Golden Boots, the Ballon d’Or trophy and, almost single-handedly, Liverpool’s first FA Cup final win for 10 years. He was prolific at domestic, European and international levels. Where could it all go wrong for England’s boy wonder? The answer lay in a huge blight of injuries. Whether it was hamstring tears, broken metatarsals or cruciate knee ligament injuries, Owen has been there, done that and has the X-Rays. His injury history has been so severe that the last time he played over 40 games in a season back in 2003/04.
Following disappointing spells at Real Madrid and Newcastle, Owen ended up on a pay-as-you-play deal at Manchester United. If only Michael had foreseen his own future, he perhaps would have agreed a better contract as, going by his appearances, he has been paid less than 50 times in the last 2 years. Although his playing time may have dried up, his knack of scoring goals doesn’t seem to have.
Winning goals in derby games, a Champions League hat-trick and a League Cup final goal helped Owen reach a total of 9 goals in his maiden season at Old Trafford. This season he has managed 5 goals despite only making 2 appearances of over 45 minutes.
It is possible to see why Sir Alex has decided to retain Michael’s services for another 12 months. With an abundance of young striking talent at the club (Wellbeck, Macheda, Bebe to name but three) Owen’s experience of playing in big matches in unrivalled. His contract will also not be costing the club anything near what a certain Wayne Rooney managed to negotiate last season. Whilst he still has an eye for goal he is still an asset for the club.
However, once this contract finishes – will he earn another one? Unlikely. Would he even find another side which would suit both his personal aspirations and that clubs’ ambitions? For Owen to leave Manchester United he would have to take a huge step backwards in footballing terms. None of the top 4 sides would be likely to take him, Liverpool wouldn’t have him back and I can’t see a club like Tottenham or Everton willing to take him onto their books. So when his new contract is up at the end of next season, would a 32-year-old injury prone striker who has lost the pace which was crucial to his game even find another Premier League club?
From a recent Twitter posting, it seems the player would be unwilling for a move to a lesser side to take place. He said he would “Prefer playing less often in a top team than every game in a poor team. Been there and didn’t enjoy it”. Could this show that perhaps he has lost the hunger and the desire to play regularly at the top level? Has he now started planning for his retirement? This new contract could well be his final instalment to a pension beginning in 2012.
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