Michael Owen defends his choice to join Manchester United after dramatic Liverpool exit

Michael Owen defends his choice to join Manchester United after dramatic Liverpool exit Michael Owen Shares His True Thoughts On His Controversial Liverpool Exit Liverpool supporters can accept a lot. They can accept a player wanting a new challenge. They can accept elite clubs circling. They can even accept a move abroad if the circumstances make sense. What they do not accept, and rarely forget, is a player crossing a line they consider non-negotiable. That is why the reaction to Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ibrahima Konate leaving for Real Madrid felt familiar. It had happened before, and the precedent remains Michael Owen. In his case, Real Madrid was never the real problem. Manchester United was. Owen scored 158 goals for Liverpool, came through the academy and won the Ballon d’Or in 2001. On paper, that should guarantee lasting adoration. Football does not work like that. Legacy is not built only on goals and trophies. It is shaped by choices, timing and who you choose to represent after you leave. Michael Owen still sees no reason to apologise Seventeen years on from joining Manchester United, Owen has repeated the same argument. He understands why people are angry, but he is not sorry. That stance has been consistent, and so has the response from Liverpool fans. His explanation is straightforward. Liverpool did not bring him back when he wanted to return. He says he pushed for it. He says he made the call. He says the door stayed shut. From his perspective, what came next was professional reality rather than betrayal. As he put it: “I think Hull City actually were the first team to show an interest and then Everton. And I’m sat here thinking, ‘with all due respect, I think I’m too good for for Hull.’ And just as I was deliberating what to do and hoping that other teams would come in to give me a choice, Sir Alex Ferguson called. In the meantime, of course, I’d phoned Liverpool to see if they were interested in signing me, but they weren’t. “Of course, I thought, ‘oh, Liverpool fans are going to hate me if I sign here.’ But what? What do you want me to do? You know, if Liverpool fans knew what had happened behind the scenes that I had basically begged [Rafa] Benitez, if they knew the story, then they would think very differently. But of course, I couldn’t tell them that.” And then the line that will irritate plenty of people on Merseyside: “The last thing I’m going to do is apologise for going to Manchester United, because the fans were great with me, the people were great with me, I absolutely loved my time there. But I do understand as well for the people that don’t know the background thinking ‘you played for them, you played for them, right? That must mean you’re a traitor or that must mean you’re disloyal or must mean whatever else.’ I’ve just got to accept that.” That is honest, at least. It is also why opinions are unlikely to shift. Liverpool fans hear the context, then go back to the same point. You wore that shirt. For many, there is no appeal beyond that. Liverpool return that never happened The important detail in all this is that Owen has long framed his 2004 departure as temporary in his own mind. He did not see Real Madrid as a final break with Liverpool. He saw it as a detour, a chance to test himself and then, one day, return. He said: “Well, leaving Liverpool was probably the hardest decision of my career. I never thought the day would come, certainly not.” Then came the offer that changed everything. “And then when I had the opportunity, when my agent phoned me and said that Madrid are interested in buying you, then, I mean, to say I was torn was an understatement. “I never expected or never wanted to leave Liverpool, but I could be sat here now talking to you and saying, you know what, at one point I was offered to go to Real Madrid and I said no, and I would definitely have regretted it, because I would never have known what it would have been like. Part of me was saying, don’t worry, you can always come back, Ian Rush did it. He went away to Juventus and he came back. And I suppose that’s what convinced me at the end of the day to think, do you know what? I’ve got to do it. I’ve got to go and try it. “Of course, I went to Madrid, had a great time, but when I wanted to come back, it could never work. It was just never the right time, unfortunately, despite my best attempts. So that’s one of the sad things about my career. I never got to come back and to play for Liverpool.” That version of events is central to understanding Owen. He did not leave believing it was over forever. He believed he could follow the Ian Rush route. He was wrong. Real Madrid move changed everything There is also a practical side. By the time Manchester United entered the picture, Owen was no longer the explosive forward who had left Anfield. Injuries had taken a heavy toll. His market had changed. The clubs interested reflected that. Hull City and Everton were hardly the queue he would have imagined in his early twenties. That matters, because it explains why the United move happened at all. For Owen, it was not a glamour decision in the traditional sense. It was a late-career opportunity offered by one of the few elite managers still prepared to take him. A footballer with diminishing options took the biggest one available. The real sliding-doors moment came much earlier, when Liverpool tried to bring him back from Madrid. The fee tells the story. Liverpool were ready to pay £10 million. Newcastle offered £16 million. Real Madrid, predictably, wanted the higher number. Owen explained it plainly: “Liverpool were prepared to pay 10 million for me, but just when I thought I was going, Newcastle slapped 16 million on the table to Real Madrid, and the president at the time came and saw me and he said, ‘you’re either staying at Real Madrid or you’re going to Newcastle, one or the other. But unless Liverpool bid 16 million, you’re certainly not going there,’” That was the moment. If Liverpool had matched the fee, the rest of Owen’s story probably looks very different. There is no Newcastle detour, no United move, no permanent stain on his standing at Anfield. Liverpool legacy remains damaged Supporters do not judge on hypotheticals, they judge on outcomes. Owen can say he wanted to return. He can say he begged for the chance. He can say Manchester United gave him a home when Liverpool did not. All of that may be true. It changes very little. For Liverpool fans, the issue is simple. Plenty of players leave. Very few come back from that by signing for Manchester United. Once that happened, his Liverpool legacy stopped being about 158 goals and became a debate about loyalty, identity and where the line sits. That is why the anger has lasted. It is why his refusal to apologise keeps the subject alive. He has every right to defend his career. Supporters have every right to decide they will never view him the same way again. Those reactions are part of football. They are emotional, tribal and often unforgiving. In Owen’s case, the facts have been laid out repeatedly. So have the feelings. Neither side has moved, and at this point, neither side is going to.