Liverpool fans have been ridiculing Michael Owen after hearing how he signed for Manchester United.
The former England striker, who scored 158 goals for Liverpool, tarnished his Anfield legacy by moving to Old Trafford in 2009. Owen says he wanted to return to Liverpool, labelling them "the club I loved", but learned they were signing somebody else after asking old pal Jamie Carragher to put in a good word for him.
Speaking on the Up Front With Simon Jordan podcast, the ex-Real Madrid man claimed the only offers on the table at the time were from United, Everton and Hull. But Reds fans aren't so sure that's the truth given how riddled with inaccuracies his story was.
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"When I ran out of contract at Newcastle I phoned Carra [Carragher] and I said, 'Speak to Brendan [Rodgers] and see if he fancies me,' and he said, 'No we're just about to sign Robert [David] N'Gog', so basically he didn't need me," Owen claimed, prompting an immediate backlash on social media.
Replying to a clip from the episode on X, one Liverpool fan joked: "Not sure why Owen rang Carra in 2009 and asked him to see if Reading manager Brendan Rodgers was interested in signing him for Liverpool. Don’t remember Robert N’Gog either. I wonder if he’s related to David N’Gog who we signed in 2008?"
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Owen has been open about the fact he wanted to re-join Liverpool when he left Real Madrid in 2005, and the 43-year-old suggested he was waiting for them to come in for him throughout his four-year stint at Newcastle. That said, he says he has "no resentment" towards the club for not re-signing him, though insists the feeling ought to be mutual.
"Liverpool aren't going to wait for me, I've got no resentment whatsoever. But I don't expect resentment the other way because the first port of call was to go back to the club I loved," Owen said. "After that when Liverpool say no, what do you want me to do?
"I'll tell you what my options were. They were Hull City, Everton and Manchester United. They were the three teams that came in in the Premier League. With all due respect Hull were in a relegation scrap… and now I'm thinking, 'Everton, I'm going to get [hammered by Liverpool fans]. I was a boyhood Everton fan, but I'm going to be hated now. I've got no option. I can't do anything."
Owen burst onto the scene in 1997 after emerging from Liverpool's academy. He won the Premier League Golden Boot in his first campaign before announcing himself to the world with a sensational solo goal for England against Argentina at the 1998 World Cup.
When asked how he felt about a perceived lack of appreciation from Liverpool fans during his early years at the club, particularly when compared to fellow academy product Robbie Fowler, Owen said he never really understood it.
"When I was 19, 20 and banging in goals left, right centre, of course there was adulation, but nothing like Robbie Fowler," he said. "I used to room with Carra, and he would always say that Liverpool fans in general think you made your name for England. It's like your England's and you're not Liverpool's.
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"But I said to him, 'I won the Golden Boot in my first friggin' year here!' And he said, 'I know'. But the fact that I become a global superstar in a white shirt, not a red one, and the fact Robbie's a Scouser, there was always that affection for Robbie."
Owen spent three years at Man United, though most of that period he was either out with injury or warming the bench. He left in 2012 after scoring 17 goals in 52 games and joined Stoke, before hanging up his boots a year later.
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