Michael Owen returned to the English Premiership today believing his troubled year at Real Madrid would help him make a major impact with Newcastle United. He was welcomed to the club by thousands of fans in this football-mad town.‘‘I have no regrets at all about joining Real Madrid a year ago’’, Owen (25) said at St James’ Park following his $26.77 million move on a four-year deal. I’m quite inquisitive so when I knew of Real Madrid’s interest I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life without playing in another European country. And to get the opportunity to play for one of the most famous clubs in the world was a fantastic opportunity.‘‘Hopefully it’s made me more rounded as a person and as a footballer. It was a great experience and hopefully I can bring that back with me and score the goals to help this club achieve success.’’A return to Liverpool seemed his first choice but when that did not develop he said Newcastle was the ideal alternative. ‘‘I’ve been honest from the start. I have an obvious attachment to Liverpool and if that deal could have happened it would have been one big option but as the deadline approached it didn’T seem that would be possible’’, he said.‘‘You only have to look at Newcastle to realise it is a very big club and an even bigger club just waiting to happen.’’Newcastle manager Graeme Souness added: ‘‘We’ve signed Michael, Scott Parker, Emre and Albert Luque in the belief that we have signed world-class players.
