The biggest problem I have with Owen is the way he left us. He kept hinting he would sign a new deal, then never did, and finally was let go for the knock down price of 8M, plus Nunez (if I recall correctly).
After that it all went to pot for him. He was a bit part player for a season in Spain, then he came back to England. None of us will ever know the full details, but I think we may have been interested again at that point, only not at the price Real Madrid wanted, especially since they got him for a pittance a year earlier.
Had Owen stood strong with Madrid and said he would only go to Liverpool, we would have been in a stronger position. Instead, Newcastle came in, gave Madrid the money they wanted, and Owen went there, largely to protect his England career.
(This is the best I can remember. If it didn't go down like this I'm more than happy to be corrected).
Anyhow, he then suffered a couple of major injuries and slithered into irrelevance. Newcastle paid the most money for the least return. Man Utd got nothing out of him. As a Liverpool fan I will always remember the service he gave us and the goals he scored. When he was a youth player we got a little Jack Russell pup and called it Owen! Cracking little dog he was, God rest his soul.
Nowadays? I agree with the notion that Owen is protecting his image. He knows we are on the rise so it is good to be linked to us again, even if his time at the club didn't end well, and even if his career as a player lost its way a long time ago.
