Newcastle net their Owen goal

“Bringing Michael to St James’ Park will rank alongside the signing of Alan Shearer as my proudest moment at Newcastle United,” Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd said.

“Newcastle fans love centre forwards and Michael is a fantastic goalscorer. He’s someone we would love to build the team around and we hope he can help us bring success to the club.”

In Madrid, Real’s director of football Arrigo Sacchi said he was sorry to see England striker Michael Owen leave the club.

‘‘We are upset because we have lost a great professional, a top-class player and someone who was always very positive,’’ the Italian told Real Madrid’s website.

‘‘He asked us if he could leave because it is a World Cup year and he wasn’t going to play here regularly. We didn’t want to loan him out and it was only when a big offer was made did that we accepted the idea of selling him.’’

Owen had also been linked with a return to Liverpool, the club he left last year for eight million pounds when he chose to follow in the footsteps of England captain David Beckham and sign for nine-times European champions Real.

He would have preferred to return to his former club but Liverpool coach Rafa Benitez appeared reluctant to buy him back.

Newcastle asked Real about Owen’s availability three weeks ago and stepped up their bid to sign him after a poor start to the season in which they gathered only one point from four matches and failed to score a goal.

With the World Cup beckoning next year, Owen decided that only by moving away from the Bernabeu would he get the games he needed to book his place in the England side alongside Wayne Rooney.

Newcastle are in terrible form, with no goals in four matches and lying just one place above the bottom of the Premiership.

But with the addition of Albert Luque and Owen, he has players who could both set up goals and draw defenders away. Owen, in particular, has the speed and nimbleness to complement Shearer’s power and height.

It could be a very potent combination. Then again, in true Newcastle style, it could fall apart.

A Fact Box

2000 June: Named in Kevin Keegan’s squad for Euro 2000. Scores against Romania.

September: Scores against world champions France in 1-1 draw in Paris.

2001 May: Scores twice in last seven minutes to give Liverpool 2-1 win over Arsenal in FA Cup final. Plays in Liverpool’s 5-4 win over Alaves in Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Cup final.

September 1: Scores hat-trick as England demolish Germany 5-1 in World Cup qualifier.

2004 Aug: Joins Real Madrid for 12 million euros.

2005 Aug 24: Newcastle and Real say they have agreed a club record transfer fee for Owen reported to be in the region of 22 million euros ($27.11 million).

Aug 30: Newcastle announce Owen has agreed to sign a four-year contract subject to a medical.