Owen established himself as one of the most fearsome strikers in Europe after coming through the youth ranks at Liverpool, winning the Ballon d’or in 2001 before departing for Real Madrid three years later.
Owen lasted just a season in the Spanish capital before joining Newcastle United in 2005, but was on the move again in the summer of 2009 when his contract on Tyneside expired.
Despite having a number of offers from rival Premier League clubs, Owen’s preference was to sign for his boyhood club, but the opportunity to sign for Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United proved too tempting to ignore when Liverpool showed little interest in bringing him back to Anfield.
“I was leaving Newcastle and the first thing I did was phone Carra [Jamie Carragher] and said ‘speak to Rafa Benitez’,” Owen told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“Carra got back to me and said ‘no, he’s about to sign someone’. I think it was David Ngog, but he had already had some great players in the team and basically they didn’t need another centre-forward. What do you want me to do at that point?
“My agent then spoke to virtually every club on the planet to see who was interested and the options were Hull City, Everton and Manchester United. You can imagine my thought process – go to Everton, get hated, go to Man Utd and get hated as well.
“As soon as I heard Man Utd were in for me then I thought, obviously first choice would be Liverpool and to go back there but if Liverpool aren’t going to want me and these are all my options then wow, Manchester United in the Champions League, I don’t have to move, I know loads of the lads. It was a brilliant move.
“I couldn’t believe my luck when Manchester United came in for me. Here’s me, regressing as a player in my own mind and still the champions of England wanted to sign me. I was absolutely buzzing when they wanted me.”
Owen won one Premier League title and one League Cup in his three years with Manchester United.
