Michael Owen makes Sunderland transfer admission - Newcastle United supporters will hate this
Michael Owen received a late offer from Sunderland during the latter stages of his career.
Michael Owen has revealed he considered joining Sunderland after leaving Manchester United in 2012.
Newcastle United supporters already have plenty of reasons to dislike the former striker. Owen - who cost a club-record £17million in 2005 - spent most of his time at St James’ Park on the treatment table.
Upon arrival, Owen made it clear that he preferred a return to Liverpool. The 46-year-old has doubled down on those comments several times since leaving Newcastle following relegation 17 years ago.
Michael Owen makes Sunderland admission
Speaking to Zac Djellab’s YouTube channel, Owen has now revealed that Sunderland tried to hijack his free transfer to Stoke City. He said: “I could have signed for Sunderland. When I left Man United, I was out of contract. Fergie said ‘Thanks for your service but we don’t need you anymore’.
“It was like ‘Great, thanks’. I was 32 at the time and thought who was going to sign me. Tony Pulis called me to sign for Stoke and it was the only realistic option.
“I could have gone abroad but it was to Australia and places I didn’t really (want to go). Literally, it was the last day of the window and I thought ‘Right, I’m going to go to Stoke. I was driving down the M6 and Martin O’Neill called me!
“I was thinking, I’m already hated by Liverpool fans, I played for Newcastle… I can’t sign for Sunderland. I was literally pulling up at the Stoke door. It was nearly a last-minute, deadline-day thing.”
‘I really regret’ - Michael Owen
In his 2019 autobiography, Owen pulled no punches when admitting he regretted joining Newcastle. He wrote: "My move to Newcastle was one I really regret. I should have followed my gut instincts from the start. I didn’t want to go there - my heart was still set on a return to Liverpool.
"Newcastle manager Graeme Souness called me roughly every two weeks for almost the entire year I was in Spain and I can’t deny I liked the attention. As the year wore on, he’d call me and say things like, ‘Michael, I see you didn’t start last weekend. Would you think about coming to Newcastle?’
"While I don’t think I led Graeme on, with hindsight, I might have handled his first phone call differently. Instead of straight-out saying, ‘If I come back to England, I’ll only be going back to Liverpool’ – which was how I felt – I think I said, ‘I’ll come back to the Premier League and I’ll look at my options when the time is right’. If I have any regrets in my career, declaring this stance at that moment would be one of the major ones."