Surprisingly perhaps Michael Owen was handed a new one-year extension today which see’s the former England international stay at Old Trafford for another season.
Owen’s present deal was about to expire and the signs were that the ex-Liverpool and Real Madrid striker’s days at the club were running short.
Speaking on the news, Owen was clearly pleased to be staying at United.
“I am delighted to have agreed a one-year extension to my contract,” said Owen.
“To play alongside so many great players, under an exceptional manager, and in front of so many passionate supporters is a real inspiration. I can’t wait for next season to start.”
There is no doubting he is still a good player and a top professional. Despite his best days being behind him, Sir Alex Ferguson still believes that Owen is an important member of our squad.
“Michael has proved to be a top footballer,” said Ferguson on today’s announcement.
“It is unfortunate that he did not get more opportunities but the form of Chicharito (Hernandez) put everyone in the shade and his partnership with Rooney proved invaluable.
“I am delighted Michael is staying for a further year and we will look to give him more opportunities in the new season.”
It should be interesting to see just how many games Owen plays for us next season as sadly due to injuries and the form of our strikers at the club, he only made 17 appearances for us last season – with only four of those being starts.
That being said, if he could get himself back to a situation where he would be fit and challenging to play more it would only benefit the team as it would be another option for us.
His professionalism and attitude has been great in his spell at us and whilst he clearly knows he’s not going to play every week (which his body probably can’t take anyway), his hunger to play shows that he still wants to play – which is a sign of a top player.
I am sure all the top strikers at the club have learnt from training with him and there’s no doubt that with Owen staying for another year, our young guys like Mame Diouf, Danny Wellbeck and Federico Macheda will benefit greatly too.
Football isn’t always a fair sport, but considering what Owen has done in his career, he deserves another year at the top where hopefully he can figure more and add to the goal tally that he’s got in his career.
Interestingly he only needs 1 more goal in the Premier League to get up to the magic 150 mark, which currently only four players (Alan Shearer, Andrew Cole, Thierry Henry and Robbie Fowler) have got past in the league’s 20 year history.
I am pleased for Owen that he’s got another year at us as if he can himself back to the form and fitness that he showed for us in the first half of the 2009/10 season, there’s no reason why he can’t score a few more important goals for us next year.
Let’s face it, if Sir Alex thinks that Owen’s good enough to be at us next season, I am not going to argue against that, well at least not at the moment anyway.
By Adam Dennehey – @ADennehey87
-<a href=”http://www.buyshoulderbags.net/ugg-shoulder-bags-1816.html”>UGG shoulder bags</a> contented mind is the greatest blessing a man can enjoy in this world.