http://www.onefootball.com/index.phtml?page=fullstory&newsid=102648
Owen on Real wish-list, admits Perez
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has let slip that Liverpool forward Michael Owen is a transfer target. Asked who he wanted to buy, Perez said: "Shevchenko, Vieira, Owen…" before cutting off and insisting the list of prospective signings was top secret.
Perez has paid out world-record fees in each of the past two summers to bring Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane to the Bernabeu and looks poised to prise Patrick Vieira from Arsenal.
But this is his first admission that Owen is another possibility. "We only want players who have a global image so they can be economically viable," he told French newspaper Le Monde.
Owen recently signed a four-year contract tying him to Liverpool until 2005, but his former Anfield team-mate Steve McManaman suggested at the time that Owen would eventually move abroad.
"I don't think Michael will fulfil his promise of staying at Liverpool for the rest of his career," he told onefootball.com.
Real sports director Jorge Valdano added on Monday that Perez would stick to the club's tried-and-tested transfer policy. "We don't take risks anymore. Vieira, Crespo, Shevchenko, also Rivaldo: we are only interested in the top players," he said.
"Young French players, for example, haven't proved anything yet and they are too expensive. Djibril Cisse has everything to be a great player, but he could be left by the wayside.
"Instead of moaning about Real, the Italians would be better off asking themselves why all the best players come to us," he added.
Owen would cost around £40 million, but Real's marketing manager Jose Sanchez has explained that the fee would not be a problem.
Using the example of £49 million signing Zidane, Sanchez explained: "Zidane was expensive but he is already profitable. He has opened new markets for us."
Real also bought the Frenchman's image rights. "We're in advanced negotiations with a panel of five or six companies that want to use his image: cars, credit cards etc..."
The Madrid giants also expect to sell 500,000 shirts with Zidane's name on the back.
Owen on Real wish-list, admits Perez
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has let slip that Liverpool forward Michael Owen is a transfer target. Asked who he wanted to buy, Perez said: "Shevchenko, Vieira, Owen…" before cutting off and insisting the list of prospective signings was top secret.
Perez has paid out world-record fees in each of the past two summers to bring Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane to the Bernabeu and looks poised to prise Patrick Vieira from Arsenal.
But this is his first admission that Owen is another possibility. "We only want players who have a global image so they can be economically viable," he told French newspaper Le Monde.
Owen recently signed a four-year contract tying him to Liverpool until 2005, but his former Anfield team-mate Steve McManaman suggested at the time that Owen would eventually move abroad.
"I don't think Michael will fulfil his promise of staying at Liverpool for the rest of his career," he told onefootball.com.
Real sports director Jorge Valdano added on Monday that Perez would stick to the club's tried-and-tested transfer policy. "We don't take risks anymore. Vieira, Crespo, Shevchenko, also Rivaldo: we are only interested in the top players," he said.
"Young French players, for example, haven't proved anything yet and they are too expensive. Djibril Cisse has everything to be a great player, but he could be left by the wayside.
"Instead of moaning about Real, the Italians would be better off asking themselves why all the best players come to us," he added.
Owen would cost around £40 million, but Real's marketing manager Jose Sanchez has explained that the fee would not be a problem.
Using the example of £49 million signing Zidane, Sanchez explained: "Zidane was expensive but he is already profitable. He has opened new markets for us."
Real also bought the Frenchman's image rights. "We're in advanced negotiations with a panel of five or six companies that want to use his image: cars, credit cards etc..."
The Madrid giants also expect to sell 500,000 shirts with Zidane's name on the back.
