Owen: Injuries aren't an issue
Michael Owen was unveiled alongside fellow new signings Antonio Valencia and Gabriel Obertan at Carrington on Monday.
United boss Sir Alex Ferguson intimated the former Liverpool and Newcastle striker would wear the no.7 jersey this season and Owen reiterated his delight at signing for the Reds.
"I’m hungry to do well here,” he said. “If this challenge doesn’t put a spring in your step and a smile on your face then nothing will. I still believe I can do well at a top team like Manchester United.”
The 29-year-old was also quick to dismiss any suggestion he was prone to injury.
"If there's one thing that probably angers me a little it's that," he said. "There's no doubt I’ve had injuries in my career, but most people have. You continually read that over the last two years I've been plagued with injuries: it's just not true.
"I think I played 33 games and then 32 games in the last two years. Newcastle weren't in Europe, we didn't have any long cup runs... there are only 38 games in a Premier League season, so playing 33 one year and 32 in the other isn't too bad.
"The two years previous I had a few injuries but it was nothing to do with being injury-prone. If somebody jumps on your foot and you break your metatarsal [you can't do much about that].
"I'm 29 and I've played more than 500 games for club and country, so that says it all. I might pick up an injury here or there but that's the rigours of the modern game. I don't believe I'm injury-prone."
Owen's move to Old Trafford surprised almost everyone, although Sir Alex revealed the wheels had been n motion for some time.
"We mulled it over for a few months," he said. "We knew Michael's contract was expiring at the end of last season. I'd intended to bring another player in and we were waiting on a decision from Carlos Tevez about what he was going to do. But we weren't getting any answers there, which put us in a bit of a quandry.
"We felt we'd waited long enough so we tried to sign Karim Benzema from Lyon. And Michael knew that was the plan. At 21 years of age, Benzema was a real possibility for us. But as soon as that fell through I contacted Michael."
For Owen, the call couldn't have come at a better time. By his own admission he "didn't set the world alight" at Newcastle last season, although he assured media that reports suggesting he'd only received offers from Hull City and Stoke City were incorrect.
"I'm not going to go into how many or which clubs were talking to me but I can assure you there were a few more clubs than the press would have you believe. There were a few good clubs, but when United came in then all other talks were put on hold and the deal was wrapped up virtually straight away." |
發表於 2009-7-13 10:16 PM
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0. Obertan
0. Valencia
1. Van der Sar
2. Neville
3. Evra
4. Hargreaves
5. Ferdinand
6. Brown
7. Owen
8. Anderson
9. Berbatov
10. Rooney
11. Giggs
12. Foster
13. Park
14. Tosic
15. Vidic
16. Carrick
17. Nani
18. Scholes