Rafa considered Owen signing

Reds boss opted not to sign striker as he wouldn't get in team

By Richard Bailey   Last updated: 12th July 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Rafa considered Owen signing

Owen: Benitez considered move

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Rafa Benitez has revealed that he considered signing Michael Owen this summer but came to the conclusion that he would not command a regular first-team place.

The 29-year-old spent eight successful seasons at Anfield at the start of his career scoring 158 goals in all competitions.

However that has not stopped the striker from moving down the East Lancs Road to fiercest rivals Manchester United on a free transfer from Newcastle this summer.

Benitez admitted that he flirted with the idea of bringing the forward back to Liverpool but did not feel he would dislodge Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard up front.

"We had contact with different people and were analysing the situation," he told The People.

"But if you want to play Torres and Gerrard there is not always a lot of space for other players.

"When I brought back Robbie Fowler it was a different situation. We were looking for someone who could understand his role clearly and he was a good finisher.

"But we have a World Cup coming up and all the top players want to play. In his position it would be hard for Owen to play every week at Liverpool."

Replacements

The Spaniard is also confident he already has enough squad depth at his disposal to cope with any injuries to his preferred front pairing.

"We are confident in (Dirk) Kuyt, (Ryan) Babel, (David) Ngog and (Andriy) Voronin for next season. We have players with quality," he added.

"People say I might need another striker but I remember signing Robbie Keane and everyone was saying good things.

"Then after I sold Robbie people were saying I was short of strikers but we scored more goals than anyone in the Premier League."