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United make Owen number one transfer target

NEWCASTLE United striker Michael Owen will be the first target for Manchester United this summer with the new Premiership champions eager to take advantage of a clause in the player's contract that will make him one of the summer's best bargains.

Owen should be available to leave St James' Park for around £9million. Should a deal be struck, there is understood to be no major objections from the man himself about joining the oldest rivals of his first club Liverpool who passed up the chance to re-sign him in 2005 when he left Real Madrid.

The 27-year-old found his old club outbid then by Newcastle but he will be able to leave for much less than the £17m paid for him two years ago.

United have explored the possibility of signing Dimitar Berbatov but, having agreed a deal of up to £18.6m for Michael Carrick last year, have been told that on this occasion Tottenham Hotspur will attempt to price the Bulgarian international out of the market.

Owen fits the bill for Old Trafford in more than one way, he brings the guarantee of goals and he comes cheaper than usual for a former European footballer of the year.

As usual, any reports of Owen leaving Newcastle, where injury has prevented him playing more than 13 games in two years, are likely to be met with a firm riposte from St James Park but there is no question that United are interested.

The Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd is yet to appoint a new manager since Glenn Roeder's departure and Owen's future is likely to play a significant role in that deal.

However, regardless of the bad luck Newcastle may have had with Owen's metatarsal injury last year, and this season's cruciate, the original release clause was there for just this kind of move. It would not play well with the Newcastle public, but they might wish to question why such an agreement was brokered in the first place.