Michael Owen makes Liverpool admission over his Manchester United transfer

Former Manchester United striker Michael Owen has admitted his aim was to re-join Liverpool when he returned to England but the striker sought a move to Old Trafford when that deal became impossible.

Owen burst onto the scene as a teenager for the Merseyside club and soon became a potent goalscorer. The forward scored 158 goals in 297 appearances, became a regular in the England squad and won the Ballon D'Or before earning a move to Real Madrid in 2004.

His stint in Spain only lasted a year before he returned to England. In an interview on the Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE YouTube channel, Owen admitted he wanted to return to Liverpool before joining Newcastle and wished to do the same again when he left St James' Park, ultimately joining United.

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He said: "I didn't go from Liverpool to Manchester United because that would have been virtually impossible, but everyone knows I grew up playing for Liverpool in the academy and when I left to go to Madrid and then came back home, I wanted to go to Liverpool. Once I went to Newcastle... that almost broke my heart in a way because I wasn't going back to what I perceive to be my club.

"When I finished at Newcastle it was again a case of can I get to Liverpool and Brendan Rodgers said he didn't need me at the time. At that point you have just got to go to whoever is the best available. Once I got over that [feeling of] is everyone going to hate me and the pain of have I ruined everything etc. etc, it was a no-brainer [to join United]. I knew everyone, I played at England with them all, I knew Sir Alex and all the rest of it.

"So to play in that stadium,