Keegan wants talks over Owen’s future

Mar 24 2008 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

NEWCASTLE boss Kevin Keegan has tipped Michael Owen to become one of the greatest players in United’s history as he urged the club to begin new contract talks as soon as possible.
 
Owen, whose present deal expires at the end of next season, produced another man-of-the-match performance to help Newcastle secure a vital 2-0 win over Fulham at the weekend, and his manager is thrilled with the England international.

There were suggestions that  Owen , who had criticised Keegan in his autobiography following their time together with the national team, would not get on with the new manager. But nothing has been further from the truth.

The 28-year-old has not only rediscovered his eye for goal, but has also shown a desire to lead the side as captain and has added a dimension to his game – as a player who can sit just behind the front two to link play.

And for Keegan, keeping Owen must be one of owner Mike Ashley and chairman Chris Mort’s main priorities if they want to restore Newcastle to its former glories.

“I’ve already started to say to the club that we should be talking to  Michael  now about a new contract; not next week, not next month – now,” said Keegan, whose first big decision on his return to St James’s Park was to make the club’s record signing skipper.

“I’ve never asked  Michael  whether he wants to stay. So I can’t answer that. You’ll have to ask  Michael , but I’m hoping the answer will be yes. If not, we’ve got another year of him next season and that’s the very least we’ll get. It’s an urgent issue because I don’t think that, whatever finances are, we’ll go out and get a player that’s any better than  Michael   Owen . That’s the reason I think we should keep him and I think that as long as he doesn’t get injured again the Newcastle fans will see a player who’ll grow into one of the greats here. That’s if we can keep him.

“That’s what I would want to do. I don’t see why we should be looking all over the world for foreign players and trying to teach them how to play in the Premier League when we’ve got one who knows his way around and whose goal-scoring record is tremendous. I’ll do everything I can to keep him.”

 Owen  suggested last week that he did not want to open discussions about a new contract until Newcastle were certain of their safety, but Keegan feels preliminary talks could happen before then after he raised the issue in a meeting with Mort last week.

He said: “The time to talk with him is now and that’s what I’ll be urging the chairman to do. There hasn’t been a reaction yet because I only mentioned it last week because I could see this coming.  Michael ’s not going to stop scoring goals, he’s not going to stop catching the eye and  Michael  is going to be wanted by other clubs. But at the moment he’s here and it’s just something that’s come up now. I think  Michael  would be the first to say that until we sort ourselves out as a team these sort of talks have to be shoved on the back-burner a little bit.”

And Keegan also revealed that  Owen ’s new role, where he often sits behind Mark Viduka and Obafemi Martins, came about because he kept doing it in training. At 28, Owen no longer has the blistering pace that helped make his name, but Keegan believes he has the intelligence and the experience to play in a variety of positions.

He explained: “When you get the experience  Michael  has under his belt you can play more or less anywhere. Why we’ve played  Michael  there is because he’s the one player at the club we know can keep the ball, see a pass and knows when to release the ball.

“He might get more chances coming from there than standing up against a big man, looking for space. He’s enjoying the role. With the players we’ve got at the moment, it’s the best role for the club and that’s why he’s playing it.

“I don’t see reason to change too much when something’s working. In training he naturally comes deep and does that and we kept seeing it and seeing it and thought ‘wow, this guy can link us up all day long’.”