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I was not the first choice to wear No 7 jersey at United, vacated by Ronaldo: Michael Owen

Former Liverpool star Michael Owen says he was not the preferred choice to don the Manchester United No 7 jersey under Sir Alex Ferguson.

Michael Owen, former Manchester United, Real Madrid and Liverpool star (Image: Twitter)

Bengaluru, April 26: From George Best to David Beckham to Cristiano Ronaldo, the iconic Manchester United No 7 jersey holders have become the biggest names in global football.

However, since Ronaldo's departure, the next few number 7's have not yet produced that aura. And one of the failed number 7 holders was Michael Owen.

In 2009, Manchester United lost their star player Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid and to fill up the void position, the then United manager Sir Alex Ferguson signed two new players - Antonio Valencia and Michael Owen - in the offensive third.

Valencia took the 25 number, whereas Owen was given the number 7. However, according to the former Liverpool forward, he was not the first choice to carry the number 7 legacy.

Owen suggested that Ferguson approached Valencia first to take the number. However, the player denied. Then, the treble-winning manager asked Michael Carrick, who also rejected the offer which was finally given to Owen.

"Valencia had been offered number 7 but he didn’t want it, so to speak. He didn’t want the added pressure," Owen told Joe. "Sir Alex called myself and Michael Carrick into his office.

"He says, 'The number 7, Michael, I want you to wear it. I think you can handle the pressure and all that comes with it’.

"He then nods at Carrick and says, 'If you don’t want it, Michael you can have it’.

"He looks at me and says, 'Do you want it?’ ”Absolutely’, I replied.’"

Owen never made it big at Manchester in his three-year injury-plagued stay. The former Ballon d'Or winner went on to play in only 52 games in his United stint, scoring just 17 times in three years. However, he clinched his only Premier League title with them in 2010-11 and a League Cup before moving on to Stoke.

Following Owen's departure, United number 7 jersey went to the more improved Valencia before Angel Di Maria and Memphis Depay got to don it. However, every one of them failed to live up to the expectations associated with a player wearing that jersey. The iconic number 7 now has been handed to Jose Mourinho's latest January star signing Alexis Sanchez, who was instrumental in United's recent wins against Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur.

Story first published: Thursday, April 26, 2018, 14:42 [IST]
Other articles published on Apr 26, 2018