Michael Owen, striker for the U.K.’s Manchester United soccer team, has signed a one-year contract and will continue to play for Manchester United.
The 31-year-old football player, who is the son of former footballer Terry Owen, began his senior career at Liverpool 15 years ago and finished as top scorer in his first season at the Premier League. In 2001, he was part of the Liverpool team that won the three cups of UEFA Cup, FA Cup and Football League Cup. Three years later, he signed up for Real Madrid for over $10 million, and in 2005, joined Newcastle United for twice as much.
Michael Owen started playing for the senior team in England in 1998, where he gained national and international prominence. He went on to appear and score in four major World Cups: those of 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2004.
But in recent years, Michael Owen’s performance has been called into question. In fact, in this past season, he was overshadowed by fellow team member Javier Hernandez, and it seemed unlikely that he would be called back for the next season. But Sir Alex Ferguson went on to award Owen an additional one-year contract.
Michael Owen had been the center of a dispute earlier between FIFA and The FA and Newcastle United when he succumbed to injuries after the 2006 World Cup. The dispute resulted in $14 million being awared to Newcastle for Owen’s non-show for the season.
