Owen in move talks

Michael Owen has arrived in England to hold talks with Liverpool and Newcastle.

The Real Madrid man was left out of the squad for his side's 2-1 win in Cadiz on Sunday night and Sky Sports News has reported that Owen has arrived in the North East for talks.

Owen would prefer a move to Liverpool and said he would only go to Newcastle on loan, but Toon chairman Freddy Shepherd's big-money offer to Real is aimed at pricing The Reds out of the running.

However, Owen still met with the European champions to discuss a return to Anfield before moving on to the North East to talk with Newcastle.

Graeme Souness is desperate for striking reinforcements after watching his side fail to score so far this season, and The Magpies have already had a bid of around £16 million accepted by the Spanish giants.

Rafa Benitez has been playing down any talk of Owen returning to Anfield, but Djibril Cisse is continually being linked with a move away to fund a move for the former European Footballer of the Year.

26-year-old Owen is facing a tough choice as he knows he needs regular football to be guaranteed a place in Sven Goran Eriksson's squad for the World Cup.

With time running out until the close of the transfer window on Wednesday, Owen will now talk over a move to the North East, with Souness and Owen's former England team-mate Alan Shearer already trying to talk him into joining the club.

Liverpool could yet scupper the deal, but the European champions were not thought to be willing to pay over the £8 million they sold him for last summer, but holding talks with Owen would suggest that some deal has been agreed.

Shepherd had said a deal would not be done after he gave a deadline to Owen which expired last week, but such is the crisis up on Tyneside that they will now try a desperate late bid to attract the England number ten to the club.