Owen: I would have stayed with Kevin Keegan

Jun 21 2009 by Neil Farrington, Sunday Sun

MICHAEL OWEN has insisted he would have stayed at Newcastle for the rest of his career had Kevin Keegan stayed on as United manager last season.

And the former England striker also claims he would “probably” have signed a new contract at St James’s Park had the Magpies not been relegated.

A brochure distributed by his representatives to eight Premier League clubs claims Owen – now a free agent – was “days away” from signing a new long-term contract at St James’s Park when Keegan quit last September.

The brochure – revealed in last week’s Sunday Sun – recalls Owen’s former glories and puts serious spin on his injury-plagued time on Tyneside.

But it is its reflection on the last nine months at Newcastle which will most interest United fans.

The brochure says: “Michael has never been unsettled at Newcastle and never said he wanted to leave.

“Indeed his period under Kevin Keegan in 2008 was one of his happiest and most productive spells in football and he was within days of signing a contract which would have kept him at St James’s Park for the rest of his career when Keegan left the club abruptly.”

The brochure adds: “His {Owen’s} belief in the potential management capabilities of his long-time friend Alan Shearer meant that he would probably have taken up the offer on the table to extend his contract at St James’s Park had the club stayed in the top flight.”

Meanwhile, Newcastle fans will seriously baulk at the brochure’s glowing testimony to Owen’s physical fitness.

In it, physio John Green, who worked with Owen at St James’s, says: “Michael is no longer susceptible to muscle injury.”

That, despite Owen missing Newcastle’s penultimate game of last season against Portsmouth with a groin strain which also saw him start the final-day match at Aston Villa on the bench.

The brochure also makes much of Owen’s career goals-per-start record, but includes his substitute appearances to talk up his stats at Newcastle.

For example, while the brochure talks of Owen playing in 77 per cent of Newcastle’s 42 games last season, he actually started just 24 (57 per cent) of them.