Michael Owen makes Liverpool admission with honest verdict on Real Madrid transfer
Former Liverpool hero Michael Owen has admitted that he would have loved to have been a one-club man - but acknowledged that he does not regret the experience of playing alongside Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid after leaving Anfield.
The former Reds striker experienced a whirlwind rise through the ranks on Merseyside, scoring on his Premier League debut at the age of 17 against Wimbledon in 1997. From there, he quickly established himself in the first-team set-up, finishing his maiden full season as the league's top scorer.
After winning the Golden Boot while still a teenager, the best was yet to come for the boy wonder, who was a key contributor en route to a unique cup treble in 2001. After writing his name into Anfield folklore with a memorable double against Arsenal in the FA Cup showpiece, he was awarded the coveted Ballon d'Or prize later that year.
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The homegrown talent was Liverpool's top scorer every season following his debut until his departure as he established a reputation as one of Europe's most feared forwards. However, with just a year left on his contract, Real Madrid eventually swooped to secure his services for a fee of just £8 million ($10.7m) in the summer of 2004.
Owen spent a single year at the Santiago Bernabéu, contributing 16 goals in 45 appearances in all competitions as he struggled to dislodge strikers Ronaldo and Raúl González from their regular starting berths. Now, the former England stalwart has looked back over the decision to depart Anfield two decades ago as he revealed that he has mixed feelings on the subject.
The retired forward previously admitted that he had hoped to return to Liverpool after a year in Madrid, only to sign for Newcastle United after they outbid his former club to land his signature in 2005. Speaking to Liverpool.com in an interview arranged by AceOdds, Owen confessed: "Well, I guess the problem in life is you can't do both, can you?
"Sometimes you look back and you think wow I'd love to have just been a one-man club like a Jamie Carragher or something and I've played for the club of my dreams all my life, he acknowledged. Sometimes I think 'would that be realistic?' because maybe I would have got to 28 and my powers were certainly not what they were at 23 and Liverpool fans would have seen me playing not as well as I did back in the day.
Having eventually moved on to Manchester United before finishing his career at Stoke City, Owen was realistic in his approximation that he would potentially have never finished his career at Liverpool regardless of whether he had rejected the advances of Madrid. He continued: "Possibly I would have been moved on or whatever.
"You never know what's happening in life. Yeah, part of me would love to be a one-club man, and part of me loved having different experiences of playing for different teams as well."
Overall, Owen asserted that his regret at having never added to his tally of 158 goals in 297 games for the Reds after leaving for good in 2004. However, he does look back with pride at having become a "Galactico" with Los Blancos, turning out in a dream team consisting of superstars including Ronaldo, Zidane, Luís Figo, Roberto Carlos and David Beckham.
He added: "It's a hard one to answer. Yeah, I'd love to have scored a million goals for Liverpool but also when I come back everybody asks me, wow, what was it like to play with Ronaldo, Figo, and Zidane and play for that team? I had that so I'm very fortunate to have had that as well. You can't have everything in life I suppose, the answer is."