A DEFIANT Graeme Souness last night revealed he was hopeful Michael Owen would be joining Newcastle - but insisted there was 'no chance' of the England striker signing for the Magpies on loan.

Despite Owen stating yesterday that he would only join Newcastle on a '12-month loan deal', according to Souness that was no longer an option.

On the pitch the Newcastle manager witnessed a dismal performance at Bolton that made it no goals in three games and just one point, but Souness remained hopeful Owen would still be tempted to become a Newcastle player permanently.

"I am a confident sort of person and I am hopeful Michael Owen will join us," said Souness.

"But a loan deal is not an option. We've had a record bid accepted by Real Madrid and it would be a permanent move.

"I will not be making a deadline - that is not for me to do."

With a deal for Deportivo's Albert Luque seemingly back on again at £8m, Souness remains optimistic that two new attacking options will be at St James' Park before the transfer window shuts next Wednesday.

The chance of Owen moving to a side who not only haven't scored, but haven't really looked like scoring so far this season must be diminishing by the hour.

The England striker yesterday revealed a rather bizarre list of priorities for the upcoming season following negotiations with Real president Florentino Perez on Wednesday night.

With his immediate future at the Bernabeu now seemingly non-existent the 25-year-old issued a wishlist that took 'keeping your options open' to a new level.

His first choice would be to remain at Madrid, with his alternative a move back to Liverpool.

Newcastle appear a distant third on the list - getting ever more distant - with Owen apparently refusing to consider a permanent move to Tyneside.

A dismal performance at the Reebok will not be persuasive to Owen as Newcastle made it one point from three games so far this season, but the manner of the defeat will live longer in the memory.

After an initial bright opening ten minutes Newcastle offered nothing going forward until Alan Shearer's shot was palmed away by Jussi Jaaskelainen with less than ten minutes left.

By that point Souness' side were two goals down through an El-Hadji Diouf header in the 37th minute and a Stelios tap-in five minutes into the second half.

Their meek surrender and inability to muster any real resistance will distress fans from the terraces right up to the boardroom

Bolton boss Sam Allardyce said: "In the space of one minute tonight we could have been one down with Gary Speed saved on the line, and then we've gone on from strength to strength.

"Apart from Alan Shearer's blockbuster we were well in control."

Read more about Newcastle United FC here.