12 Sept 2024
Speaking exclusively with Genting Casino, Premier League icon Michael Owen said that he didn’t feel pressure in taking Cristiano Ronaldo’s shirt number at Manchester United and insisted the Portugal icon’s value would now be in the region of £500 million.
Owen has also tipped United’s new stadium to be the best in the world as Sir Jim Ratcliffe eyes a move away from Old Trafford to a 100,000 seat new home.
The England hero has also given his thoughts behind the success of Chester’s rivals Wrexham and noted that Real Madrid won’t be relishing their contest against Liverpool in the Champions League.
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Q: Which Premier League atmosphere made it tricky for you as an away player?
MO: “In terms of being there as an away player, I think Crystal Palace has a great atmosphere. They seem to have a real passion for their team despite not challenging for silverware or playing in Europe for instance, or even really being in relegation battles.
“So for a team that doesn’t have loads of jeopardy, let's say, their fans are incredibly noisy, incredibly passionate and to be fair, under their new manager, I'd be really excited as well.
“I think they play some great football, they have some really talented players. So I'd say Crystal Palace fans would be getting the thumbs up from me.
“Newcastle is an amazing place to play when things are going well. But like a lot of clubs, when things are not going so well, it can be a difficult place to play.
“So I think Newcastle at the moment is another club that's worthy of a mention in terms of great support. Obviously, I'm a bit biassed, but Liverpool fans have always been amazing fans. They never boo their own. They never get on the back of their team.
“They're very supportive. You pull that red shirt on and you're absolutely trying your best and Liverpool fans will always back you.
“So I'd say Liverpool fans, longevity as well, they've always been like that, always been very supportive of their own. So I'd probably name those three clubs.”
Q: Were there certain crowds that were easier to play against?
MO: “You'd definitely go to grounds and be quite happy playing there because it's not really an intimidating atmosphere. I always remember West Ham being quite a tough place to play.
“The fans were quite close by and quite aggressive towards you and things like that. So that was quite a tough one to play.
“But there would definitely be places where you go and they might be just going through a bad patch at the time. If a team are near the bottom of the league or mid table and not much to play for towards the end of the year or something like that, certain places could be quite a pleasant place to go to.
“A lot of the teams that I played for, the likes of Liverpool, the likes of Manchester United, Real Madrid, a lot of the time when you go to these away grounds, it's a massive, massive game for the home team.
“It's your one chance at home to beat Liverpool or beat Manchester United, or beat Real Madrid, so a lot of the time we would naturally get a good atmosphere.”
Q: Who are your favourites to win the Champions League?
MO: “The change in Champions League format could be interesting, but I would still suspect that the big teams will come out on top and to get into the knockout stages.
“There's more games this year and the more games there are in any competition, the more I would expect the better teams to come out on top at the end of it.
In knockout competition when it's just a one leg game, it can be home and away it can be quite fraught, not always the best team win, but the longer the format, the more I would favour the better teams.
“So I've believed that Manchester City have been the best team in Europe for the last few years. However, Manchester City have not won as many European Cups in that time as Real Madrid have.
“I would still argue that, you know, in a couple of those times when City have been knocked out by Real Madrid, I'd still argue that Man City were the best team on certain occasions. But we’ve seen the results that Madrid have got in this competition and now having Kylian Mbappe in their team, they're not getting any worse, are they?
“You'd have to say that Madrid are the team to beat. However, Real Madrid won't want to play Liverpool, won't want to go to Anfield and play Liverpool. Real Madrid won't enjoy it if they draw Manchester City either, because secretly they might have got through on a couple of occasions, but secretly they will know that when they've played City they weren’t necessarily the best team.
“But you have to say that Madrid are the favourites going into it, but I don't think Madrid will be relishing playing City or Liverpool. at the moment. So I think it'll be a good tournament.”
Q: Who are your favourites to win the Europa League?
MO: “We’ve seen the Spanish clubs really dominate but there are two strong teams in Manchester United and Tottenham that could go all the way.
“They'll be up there amongst the favourites. Tottenham are a Champions League team really and you could argue that Manchester United would hold their own in the Champions League, although having seen their performances last season in a really average group. It's hard to make that case.
“But player for player, you would say that they’re Champions League clubs in a slightly lesser competition. So you'd have to say they've got a great chance of going all the way.”
Q: Could Chelsea go all the way in the Conference League?
MO: “Chelsea have got some incredible talent. But Chelsea purely need consistency in which the manager gets a run of games where the club stick by him.
“A bit like at the end of last season, they start picking up some results and then all of a sudden they change their manager and then they change a load of players again. It's just incredible, it's like they've pressed a self-destruct button.
“No one can confidently predict Chelsea’s season, but they've got the players to win the Conference League, no question about it.
“Iit wasn't so long ago that they were winning the Champions League, but consistency is not a word that you would use with Chelsea at the moment, and that's what they need probably to start winning trophies, so I'm sceptical for the next year or two with Chelsea.”
Q: Is Matthijs de Ligt an improvement on Harry Maguire?
MO: “Matthijs de Ligt and Harry Maguire have lots of similarities, their size, their stature, their presence, their ability on the ball. There's quite a lot of similarities between them.
“Lisandro Martinez is probably a little bit different to them both so you'd think his position is almost more assured and it's one of the other two.
“However, Manchester United have a big recent history of having injured defenders. So it’s important that they are covering these positions.
“When everybody's fit then the selection debates are magnified, but halfway through the season when players are patched up and some are injured and some are suspended, that’s when Manchester United have realised that they need a bigger squad, that hurt them last season so they’ve learned from that.
“These players are not paid all that money to have them on the bench constantly but that might just be the case in the short term until something pops up like lack of form or suspension.
“If De Ligt does come in and United start winning, Ten Hag might then be hesitant to take him out again. Football is all about biding your time.”
Q: Could Noussair Mazraoui be the signing of the summer at Old Trafford?
MO: “I think Noussair Mazraoui has started the season really, really well. I have been really impressed with him. We're judging after a couple of games, but it’s appeared to me that he has taken to the Premier League really well.
“In the opening game he made a couple of great tackles, great interceptions, great blocks, and looked comfortable on the ball. He looked pretty solid to me for an opening game.
“If that's anything to go by, considering he's going to improve on that as well, then it could be a really good sign. The early signs are promising so he could be United’s most impressive summer signing.”
Q: Should Man Utd target Antonee Robinson in January?
MO: “Left-back has been quite a troublesome position for Manchester United and Antonee Robinson is a player that really never misses a game and that's the sort of thing United need, reliable players.
“They have a great player in that position with Luke Shaw, but injuries are obviously something that you've got to take into consideration and as a manager you’d want to bring in a player who has shown that they are reliable in terms of availability.
“That will definitely be in Ten Hag’s mind, but at Robinson’s age he won’t want to be playing a back-up role when Luke Shaw is fit, so I’m not sure that is a move that will happen.”
Q: Is there a danger that Real Madrid have too much talent to juggle?
MO: “In certain situations you can have too much talent to juggle, but Real Madrid aren;t in that position. It was obvious when Karim Benzema left that they didn’t have a centre forward and now they’ve gone and got the best in the world in the form of Kylian Mbappe.
“I think with Mbappe, it makes perfect sense. Jude Bellingham did a really good job in the first half of season, being that false number nine and working with the other forward players.
“In the second half of the season, even though they went on to win the Champions League, in the main it wasn't absolutely perfect, Bellingham’s form tailed off a little bit.
“I think most people in the game would say, wow, if they had a centre forward then that would be an even more incredible team.
“If Real Madrid don't go and win the Champions League, people will be screaming from the rooftops, but I personally just think that will be happening.”
Q: Could Rodrygo be forced to leave Real Madrid to get game time?
MO: “If Rodrygo doesn’t understand that he might need to fight for his place then he needs to get used to football at the highest level.
“You can be one of the best players in the world and somebody better might sign. That's the life of playing for Real Madrid. That's the life of playing for Liverpool and Manchester City and other great teams. That's never ever changed.
“The only thing I would say is that obviously Bellingham is out for a little while. So that changes things up again. It might be that everything just slots perfectly into place now.
“Rodrygo still gets his games and Vini Jr. still gets his games and Mbappe gets to play up front. It will be a problem when Bellingham gets fit again and then what's going to happen?
“But in the meantime, someone else might get injured or suspended and that's just football. It can be a problem when you've got too many good players. But then again, if you get injuries and all of a sudden you think you need more players.
“You can’t be totally dependent on not getting players injured. That's the decision that clubs make all the time.
“If you want a massive squad as a manager, then you've got to be prepared to have people knocking on your door every two minutes. And you've got to be good at managing that.
“If you don't like that confrontation, then have a smaller squad and risk people getting injured, then you have to call upon the kids.
“This is just football. This is life. This is what happens all the time at every level.”
Q: What should Liverpool do with Trent, Salah and Van Dijk?
MO: “The contract situation at Liverpool is really interesting, with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk all out of contract next summer.
“The problem for Liverpool is that it’s taking place for three of their best players at the same time.
“I think Liverpool will have a gauge on where things are going at the moment. If any of them had said categorically, I'm not signing a contract, I want out, then you might have seen something different in the summer. You might have seen one of them moving on, or you might still see something in the winter transfer window.
“It'd be virtually unthinkable for there have been no conversations at all between club and players. I just cannot see it. So they'll have a handle on it. They're not stupid.
“I'm sure they've got it under control. There might be an announcement in the next month, let's say, that one of them has signed a new four-year deal and everybody was thinking, why were we all worried?
“There might be one of them being lined up to be sold on or to go out as a free, but whatever it is, they will have their plans in place. This has not just crept up on them in the last week at Liverpool.
“They will have plans in place and all it is is for the people like me to discuss what ought to happen, whether they should sign these players on, whether they should sell them and all the rest of it.
“A lot of that depends on who's interested. For example with Mohamed Salah it's going to be virtually impossible to replace him. But if someone from Saudi are going to offer a hundred million plus, then that might be a decision that Liverpool can’t turn down.
“On the flip side, Salah might have be in the last rungs of negotiation and they might be just adding one or two final touches to the contract and he's going to sign a new four-year contract.
“These discussions will have been going on with all three players for a long time. But obviously we’ll discuss things like Jude Bellingham is good mates with Trent and the right back position at Real Madrid looks like it's probably the next one to be strengthened.
“And who's one of the best right backs in the world when teams have got the ball and when you're in possession and all the rest of it, Trent Alexander-Arnold.
“So obviously people then put two and two together and you can see why. But as I say, all these things will be happening behind the scenes and this is not something where they'll just be deciding to have a conversation in a month or two's time.
“There will have been conversations with all three players for a period of time now. Absolutely.”
Q: Did you feel the weight of expectation when taking Cristiano Ronaldo’s number?
MO: “I think because I was at that stage of my career I didn’t feel any pressure in taking Cristiano Ronaldo’s shirt number and that’s what Sir Alex Ferguson said to me.
“He said to me when he handed me the number because I had pretty much been there, seen it, done it and played for great teams under the biggest of pressures and won the biggest of trophies.
“It was probably in safe hands. I wasn't going to go into a nightclub and do anything stupid or be disrespectful to the shirt in any way.
“I was a pro and people knew my character and knew that it was in safe hands. There also wasn’t the expectation of matching his 40 goals because I was coming to the end of my career.
“But I think from the manager's point of view, he wanted it represented really well. When you look at the players that have worn it in the past, then he wanted it in safe hands and I would like to think I treated it with a lot of respect and that was probably the reason.
“I've had a bad back since wearing that with the weight of it! But no, on a serious note, it was a huge honour at the time to be offered. And I was definitely not going to say no.”
Q: How much would Cristiano Ronaldo be worth now?
MO: “If you look at the transfer record now of over £200 million, you’d have to say that Cristiano Ronaldo was worth more than that at Manchester United.
“In hindsight, for what he gives you, look at the amount of Champions League medals he's going to pretty much win you single-handedly, for the amount of shirts and the publicity and the merchandise around the world that he's going to sell.
“In hindsight, I think 500 million would be cheap. You could even double that if you look at the goals, the trophies, the shirts, and how much the clubs have benefited from having him there.
“Since he played for Real Madrid they’ve thrown hundreds and hundreds of millions on the new stadium, they are in a great financial position. They're paying all this money to Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham - a lot of this will have been off the back of the success of Cristiano Ronaldo.
“How he's grown their brand, how he's won them trophies and made them all this money. So I guess if you'd said to them at that point how much he would give you for nine seasons, they might say yes to a billion pounds, forget about £80 million. £500 million would be cheap.”
Q: Should Man Utd build a new stadium?
MO: “Manchester United looking into building a new stadium with 100,000 seats is incredibly exciting. I think it’s unbelievable news for fans.
“If I was a Manchester United fan, I'd be so excited by that. Yes it would be moving stadiums but look at what Tottenham did, it barely moved at all.
“It’s not like moving 15 miles to the other side of the city, then I could understand some people being against the move. But it will still feel like home. Even if they did a huge redevelopment of Old Trafford it would feel like a new ground anyway.
“If I was a fan, I wouldn't be bothered. It's virtually the same site, for all those years that you've been going with your grandma and your granddad and your mum and your dad and driving to Old Trafford, you're still driving on the same motorway, the same A -road, the same B -roads to the new ground.
“Imagine how good it's going to be. The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is just out of this world. Tottenham fans must just be pinching themselves every time they watch a brilliant team in a brilliant stadium, it's phenomenal.
“Manchester United are not gonna do anything in half measures. If they build something, it's gonna be the best in the world. I'd be incredibly excited if I was a Man Utd fan.”
Q: Should Man Utd match the 105,000 seats that Barcelona have planned?
MO: “105,000 seats is a lot for any club, but if anyone can pull it off it would probably be Manchester United.
“You always want to be the best for your own ego and the club will know what the demand is like. If you've got waiting lists, if you've got people that can't get into Old Trafford and things like that, it just creates that demand that people are desperate for.
“They'll probably buy more things in the club shop, and they'll probably want to get connected in other ways and things like that. So there's that reverse psychology type of thing. I think the worst thing that you can do is go and build a stadium with 120,000 seats and only sell 100,000 tickets.
“You don’t want to see empty seats every week. But the people at Manchester United will understand that more than I do.
“It's gonna have to be massive because they've got a huge following, but how big? You've got to look into the future as well. This is going to be a stadium for decades, or maybe even 50 to 100 years.
“You've probably got to look into the future as well and think about where's football going?
“What other things can we do in this stadium? There's so much to think about. But how exciting for fans of Manchester United Football Club with such an amazing project that is on the horizon.”
Q: What have you made of Wrexham’s journey as a Chester fan?
MO: “Well I’m a Chester fan of course, my dad played for Chester in the glory years when they got to the League Cup semi-final and got promotion.
“My dad speaks so fondly of his time at Chester and I was born in the city, lived in the city and
my home sits just outside the city now so Chester is in my heart and soul.
“So it pains me in a way to say it, but I think it's great to see what is happening at Wrexham. The two owners are doing wonders for football in this part of the world.
“There are so many fans out in America that wouldn't have been football fans, wouldn't have followed football without them. The buzz in the area is quite incredible.
“I live 15 miles from Wrexham and you can feel the buzz down the road. It's quite painful as a Chester fan, looking over your fence and seeing success down there, but also I would like to think that gives the motivation for Chester Football Club and the fans to want better and to want more. We'll see what happens there in the future.
“I've got no problems with what Wrexham are doing. They're spending money, they're investing money into football. The crowds are growing, the stadium is getting bigger and better. I think it's an incredible story.”
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