Michael Owen has returns as a devil

Michael Owen returns to stick dagger into Anfield hearts

It might have been different had the call to Michael Owen been placed by Rafael Benítez instead of Sir Alex Ferguson.

Maybe the Owen brochure was lost in the Wirral post, or perhaps Owen was too far down Rafa's to-do list when Fergie stepped in.

It does not matter now. In saying yes to Manchester United Owen forfeited the right to the freedom of
the Kop. Robbie Fowler returned a hero after spells at Leeds and Manchester City.

Fowler left reluctantly on the end of Gérard Houllier's toe cap. Owen left of his own accord against the wishes of Benítez to further his career in Madrid. Not good but not the betrayal perpetrated in Ferguson's front room.

Football is a universe of parallel parts, one governed by the head, the other by the heart. Players exist in the first world, fans in the second. Only special travellers are invited by supporters to cross the threshold into the land of eternal love.

Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher will never walk alone in Liverpool. Owen, a contemporary of theirs and still a friend, requires a police escort to pass through the Shankly Gates.

He will discover on Sunday where he stands in Liverpool lore. The badge on his chest offers a clue, as does the hailstorm of invective that rained down on Carlos Tévez at Old Trafford months after United fans had urged Ferguson in song to sign him up.

The reaction conformed to the ancient football practice of hate thy neighbour. That he moved to Manchester City for greater reward does not play out in football's schoolyard, as Sol Campbell learnt observing his effigy hanging from a Tottenham rope following his move to Arsenal.

Tévez demonstrated a poor understanding of English club dynamics. He would not so readily switch from Boca Juniors to River Plate and live to tell the tale in the barrios of Buenos Aires. Campbell knew what was coming when he returned to White Hart Lane. Ferguson is not expecting a garden party for Owen, who will feature on the bench if not in the starting line-up, pending the fitness of Wayne Rooney.

"Paul Ince got a bad reception from our fans when he joined Liverpool. Michael may well get that again on Sunday. The goals he scored for them mark him down as one of their best ever strikers. Everyone wants to be liked but I don't think it will bother him," Ferguson said.

Owen's decision to leave Anfield in August 2004 was based on conventional rules that apply outside of football worship. Liverpool had dismissed Houllier. The resurrection at Anfield was to begin anew under the leadership of Benítez.

The Houllier regime had failed to return Liverpool to the sacred turf marked out by Shanks and maintained by Boot Room devotees from Bob Paisley to King Kenny.

Owen weighed the prospects of career fulfilment. He had given seven seasons of stellar service, ending each one as the club's top scorer. He remains the only Liverpool player to win the European Footballer of the Year award.

He felt that the big opportunities lay beyond Anfield. Gerrard agonised over the same issue before saying no to Chelsea. One wonders whether he will consider the Champions League Trophy in 2005 sufficient compensation.

Despite a scoring ratio per minute played superior to any in Spain, Madrid was not the fantasy for Owen that it proved to be for David Beckham. Four years on, via Newcastle, the opportunity Owen sought at the Bernabeu is provided by United. The testimony of Ferguson is a stake through the heart of Anfield.

"It [Liverpool] was never mentioned. I never even thought about it. I don't know if Liverpool were in for him in the summer. I made my mind up about Michael and there was no negotiation. He was desperate to come. It was so simple. Half an hour meeting and concluded in that half an hour. He wanted to be back at a top club and have European football."

Owen has already left an indelible mark at Old Trafford. If he does not score again in a red shirt the goal that won the Manchester derby in the final seconds is enough to guarantee his ordination into the United sainthood.

What would Benítez have given for a touch like that in the feet of David Ngog when the French striker was presented with the chance to put Lyon out of the Champions League tie last Tuesday? Ngog disintegrated in a chaotic dance of legs and feet before topping his drive.

All hope rests on the potency of the returning Fernando Torres, a point tacitly acknowledged by Benítez when asked if he regretted not moving for Owen.

"I had a lot of good players before in my squad and I have a lot of good players now. I'm really happy with Torres. Kuyt is a fantastic striker, Ngog, Voronin, Babel will be there helping the team, so I am really happy with my players. Hopefully, we will score two or three goals and won't be thinking about [Owen]. When I arrived here he was going to Real Madrid after only two or three days with us."

Regret, funnily enough, has no hold over Ferguson either: "He has a proven record. If you are looking only at his CV, then every club in the world would have taken him. The only issue was his appearance record over the last two or three years.

"That was putting one or two clubs off. I spoke to one or two people about him, Nicky Butt in particular, and Nicky was almost forcing me to sign him. He had so much good to say about the lad. It was good advice and I took that on board."

froms telegraph.co.uk