Why I Chose Man Utd Over Liverpool
Michael Owen recently talked about his decision to join Manchester United instead of going back to Liverpool in 2006. He had planned to return to Liverpool after his time at Real Madrid, but he feels the club didn’t keep their word.
Owen was a key player for Liverpool in the late 90s and early 2000s. In 2004, he moved to Real Madrid. But things changed when he switched to Manchester United in 2009. In an interview on The Big Interview with Optus Sport, Owen mentioned that he thought he would go back to Liverpool after one year in Madrid. He also had a special clause in his contract with Newcastle, allowing him to return to Liverpool if they paid a certain fee.
Owen said, “The agreement when I left for Real Madrid was that I would come back to Liverpool.” But when he returned, he ended up signing with Newcastle instead. He felt let down because Liverpool didn’t follow through.
Owen started his career at Liverpool at just 17. He scored 158 goals in 297 matches and even won the Ballon d’Or. So, it made sense he wanted to go back. Instead, he played four years at Newcastle before moving to Manchester United. At United, he won a Premier League title in 2011.
ICYMT: Premier League Talking Points
The Liverpool Letdown
Even though Owen wanted to go back to Liverpool, he didn’t just want to punish them for not re-signing him. He felt he had limited choices. He said, “I could have gone to Everton, Hull, or Man Utd.” But he wanted Liverpool. He mentioned that he would have accepted a lower salary and even joked he’d “walk there” to make it happen. Liverpool agreed but never made a move to bring him back.
He said, “If you’ve got any brain cells, then you can see I’ve done everything I can to get back.”
The Real Madrid Decision
When Owen left for Real Madrid in 2004, he was torn about the choice. “I was so 50-50 about whether to go or not,” he shared. He worried that if he said no, he might miss out on a great chance. He thought he could always return to Liverpool, taking Ian Rush’s return as a sign that it was possible.
Owen recalled talking with Liverpool’s chairman and having a handshake agreement to return after some time. They talked about having him play abroad and then coming back.
The Fans and the Rivalry
Owen had a great connection with Liverpool fans during his time there. He remembered how the fans sang his name when he was just 18, and he was the team’s top scorer every season. But after joining Manchester United, things changed. “Eventually I played for one of their biggest rivals, and now people ask, ‘Why isn’t Michael Owen a Liverpool legend?’ It’s because I played for Manchester United, he said.
Even before joining United, he didn’t like playing at Anfield. He admitted, “I hated going back to Anfield and playing against my people.”
Owen’s choice to move to Manchester United still feels like a betrayal to many Liverpool fans. But for him, it was a result of missed chances and broken promises from his old club.
