Former Liverpool favorite Michael Owen made a controversial move to Manchester United in 2009 despite Jamie Carragher’s best efforts.
Despite scoring 158 goals for Liverpool, helping the Reds to a historic Cup treble and even winning the Ballon d’Or for his individual performances, Michael Owen is not a popular figure with the Kopites.
Of course he was when he led Gérard Houllier’s team and wore the famous red jersey.
Even after joining Real Madrid in the summer of 2004, in their 2005 European Super Cup victory over CSKA Moscow, Liverpool fans chanted “There is only one Michael Owen!” and there were rumors the Reds were in talks to re-sign the striker.
Unfortunately, Liverpool were left out of such a move as Newcastle United offered what was then a club record £17m for the striker.
On his first return to Anfield with the Magpies, his name was not sung, Kopites instead chanting “Where were you in Istanbul?” in a nod to the club’s 2005 Champions League victory a few months earlier.
But the fatal blow to Owen’s relationship with his former club’s supporters was his controversial decision to join bitter rivals Manchester United in the summer of 2009.
He has repeatedly defended such a move, noting that he was available on a free transfer Following Newcastle’s relegation, Liverpool had rejected attempts to return to Anfield and were left with a choice of the Red Devils, Everton or Hull City.
Unsurprisingly, however, that did little to convince Reds supporters, who viewed such a transfer to Old Trafford as the ultimate betrayal.
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher, who is close friends with Owen after joining the Reds first team within months in 1996/97, tried to block his controversial transfer but his efforts were in vain.
“Somebody told me I got wind of it and I called you right back,” he revealed when Owen appeared on his Greatest Game podcast in February 2020. “You said, ‘Yes, I’ll sign in two days’.
“I contacted Rafa and said, ‘Look, Owen is on a free transfer and he’s set to sign for Man United in two days.’ Like it or not, do it to overtake Man United.
“‘He’s happy to be on the bench, too bad. I think – if you look at him now, I think we just signed David Ngog and they said, ‘No, we don’t want to do it, let it go “.
While Carragher ultimately failed to stop Owen from joining United, despite his best efforts, there was one thing he was dying to know once the forward completed the transfer.
Speaking to Football Ramble in September 2018, Owen shared what his former Liverpool teammate texted him soon after making his Manchester United debut.
“I always remember walking off the pitch for the first time and looking at my phone in the dressing room,” said Owen.
“Carragher writes to me: we are great friends. He was like, ‘Call me as soon as you can mate, I want you to let me know what a Team Fergie call is like.'”
Owen then spent three years at Old Trafford, scoring 17 goals in 52 appearances as he won the Premier League and League Cup with the club, before ending his career with a disappointing season at Stoke City.
