MICHAEL Owen has confirmed his commitment to Newcastle and promised the club's fans that he will still be a Magpies player at the start of next season.

Almost two weeks after The Northern Echo revealed that the striker would not be leaving St James' Park this summer, Owen has spelled out his determination to succeed in a black-and-white shirt.

And while the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool have all been linked with a possible £9m move in recent weeks, the England international insists he was never interested in moving away from Tyneside.

"I believe that these can be good times to be at Newcastle, which is why I am more than happy to be here," said Owen, who has made just 14 senior appearances for the Magpies since making a £16m move from Real Madrid in August 2005.

"There has been plenty of speculation about my future, but I can assure the Newcastle fans that I didn't start any of it.

"There was a lot of talk from other quarters and my attitude to rumour has always been to ignore it.

"I don't really feel that I should be responding all the time to stories in the newspapers and I certainly didn't want to be forced into making comments.

"I prefer to let my actions speak for themselves and I just wish there had been more opportunities to show the Newcastle fans what I am capable of. I am sure that is to come this season."

Owen was part of the Newcastle squad that spent seven days in a training camp in Austria earlier this month.

That was the 27-year-old's first experience of working under new Magpies manager Sam Allardyce, and he has already been impressed by what he has seen.

"It has been an eye-opener to see the innovations from Sam Allardyce," added Owen, in his column in The Times. "We've been on a training camp in Austria and from bike rides at 7.30am to Pilates in the afternoon, we've been shown a different approach to the traditional slog of pre-season.

"That is just one small but significant part of the multitude of changes happening at Newcastle that give me even more hope that this season can be uplifting for me and the fans after frustrating times.

"We've got a new manager, new staff, new players and a takeover in the boardroom. Any one of the those elements would cause excitement at a club and we've had a transformation from top to bottom. Crucially, everyone who has arrived appears to have big ambitions."

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