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Why!? Unu captain seh dat Owen is the new Tevez...unu nuh need no more dan dat
Neville: Owen the ideal replacement for Tevez
Gary Neville says Michael Owen is the ideal player to replace Carlos Tevez, who looks set for rivals Manchester City.
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Michael Owen: The new Tevez?
Sir Alex Ferguson snapped Owen up on a free transfer after the 29-year-old's disappointing spell at Newcastle.
And Neville, United's club captain, says Owen will repay Ferguson's faith in goals: "He (Owen) is at Manchester United because the gaffer believes he can score goals," he told Goal.com. "He is ideal now Carlos Tevez is gone."
"He has an opportunity to play at the highest level, at one of the biggest clubs in the world and of course, possibly regain his England place - but that will be at the discretion of the manager."
While Owen's international future is grabbing the headlines, Neville's own England ambitions were reignited by a shock recall to Fabio Capello's squad for the end of season World Cup qualifiers.
But the 34-year-old insists thoughts of playing in South Africa next summer haven't entered his head just yet. "At this moment, I'm just thinking about playing in every single game that I can. I've missed too many England games over the past few years," he said. "But the most important thing is helping England qualify for the World Cup.
"We have taken it for granted that we've been there at almost every major tournament. We seem to have a feeling in this country of, 'Oh, quarter-finals, it's a disgrace, we've got to get past that,' and yes, we do have to get past that. But first things first, we've got to qualify, and it's hard work qualifying.
"Traditionally, we have tended to play in a more rigid system, but the boss has developed a more flexible and fluid team and the players are thriving."Leave a comment:
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'No more transfers to United', says Ferguson
By Simon Stone, Press Association
Sir Alex Ferguson handed Michael Owen the prized Manchester United number seven shirt and then declared Old Trafford closed for transfer business.
It was anticipated Ferguson would make further signings in addition to Owen, Antonio Valencia and Gabriel Obertan, who joined last week from Bordeaux.
But, faced with a market over-inflated by Real Madrid and Manchester City, Ferguson has decided his current squad is good enough to challenge for an unprecedented fourth consecutive league title, even though Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez have left.
"It is the end of our business, so all these stories about who were are supposed to be getting - forget it," he said.
It means Owen will take over Ronaldo's shirt and his place in an attacking line-up containing Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov, plus youngsters Daniel Welbeck and Federico Macheda, who will both be given a chance to prove they are worthy of the accolades that have been bestowed on them.
"They are both young players," he added, "but young players with ability always get a chance here."
Ferguson confirmed he made a bid for Karim Benzema, only to be rebuffed by the Lyon man, who instead became part of Real Madrid's extraordinary spending spree.
With a world record £80million burning a hole in his pocket following the sale of Ronaldo, United had the funds to compete.
But Ferguson refuses to be drawn into a bidding war for any player beyond the level he thinks is acceptable.
"There are some amazing numbers being talked about, not all of them realistic," he said. "It is very difficult to get value now. In a way we benefited through the sale of Cristiano, although that figure was non-negotiable.
"But I feel we have a good squad, which meant there was no need for knee-jerk reactions. We asked about Benzema and we had a value for him. Lyon have done well because they got €42million but I think we took a sensible view."
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/f...n-1744387.html
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