Owen keen to stay in Premier League (From The Northern Echo)

Owen keen to stay in Premier League

9:01am Tuesday 23rd June 2009 in Sport By Andy Richardson

MICHAEL OWEN’S confirmation he will leave Newcastle next month ended any lingering doubts about his future on Tyneside.

Owen has claimed the Premier League is “where I feel I belong” but whether many top flight clubs agree remains to be seen.

Hull City are prepared to offer the 29-year-old a £40,000 per week contract but Owen is thought to be waiting for an offer from a club of more established pedigree although he made clear his desire to remain in England.

Owen’s four years at Newcastle won’t be regarded by either party as a runaway success where, despite scoring at a rate of just over once every two and half games, he rarely justified the £16m fee paid to bring him from Real Madrid.

In a rare public statement, Owen revealed his current contractual position.

“I’ve still got weeks, a month or whatever left, I’m not sure, so that’s where I am at the minute. I don’t think I’m going to be re-signing at Newcastle,” he said.

“I don’t think they are going to offer me a contract and I would prefer to play in the Premier League or a top division somewhere else. There are plenty of clubs who would interest me, but we will see where that is, whether that’s home or abroad.

“There has been a lot of interest from abroad, and quite a bit from at home as well.

“Obviously, the Premier League is where I feel I belong.

I played a year out in Spain and enjoyed it at Real Madrid, but it definitely confirmed to me that I prefer the Premier League. So if it was to be a good English club, that would be my preference, but I have had quite a lot of interest from abroad, so I wouldn’t rule that out.”

Asked about Hull’s interest, Owen added: “I’ve not been made aware of that, it must have been this morning. It’s quite a new one. I’ve been linked to just about every team in the last few months.

“I’ve had four enjoyable years there so I wouldn’t like to be talking about specific clubs I might be joining while I’m still at Newcastle.

“There’s been a lot said and written about me over the last few weeks and not many nice things.

“I’ve got skin thicker than 99.9 per cent of the population and I have got used to it, I don’t know why you should get used to it. I suppose I have.

“People write you off but when I scored a goal in the World Cup as an 18-year-old people were writing me off saying I was a one-off. I score a hat-trick against Germany in Munich and win five trophies in a year with Liverpool.

“ I’ll come back. Yes I’d prefer people to say nice things about me, it’s not like I’ve murdered anyone. You’ve got to be thick-skinned I suppose.”