"I spoke to Liverpool" - Michael Owen on departing Real Madrid

Michael Owen has opened up on departing Real Madrid.

The forward departed Liverpool and joined the La Liga club back in the summer of 2004.

However, Owen only spent one season at Real Madrid. The Englishman was hoping to rejoin Liverpool.

But, Owen ended up signing for Newcastle United instead. The 42-year-old has recently opened up on the aforementioned situation.

As quoted by Anfield Watch on Twitter, he told the Daily Mail the following: "When I was leaving Real Madrid, I spoke to Liverpool they wanted to buy me back. They put in a bid of £10m. They sold me for £8m put in a bid for £10m and I thought 'I'm there, I'm going to go home'.

"I said 'I’d prefer to go back now, I’ve had a great experience but I’d prefer to go back thinking it’s Liverpool'.

“(Perez) said, 'Okay, well it’s Newcastle', and I was like, 'What?' I was told obviously on the QT by Liverpool that they were going to put in a bid so I just assumed it was them.

"I was like 'No, I’ll go back to Liverpool but I’m not going anywhere else'. He said 'Newcastle have bid £16m, if Liverpool do that then you can go there. But if not, you either stay here or go to Newcastle'. I was like, 'Okay, I’ll stay here'.

"I spoke to Liverpool again and said, 'If you just go to £12m, I’ll hold my nerve and force them (Madrid) into a corner'.

"But Liverpool said, 'We can only go to £10m'. So then I had a big decision to make. We had just signed Robinho, we already had Ronaldo and Raul."

Anfield Watch Verdict

Owen was a fine player for Liverpool. The forward found the back of the net 158 times in 297 appearances for the club's first-team.

But, Owen destroyed his Liverpool legacy when he departed Newcastle and joined Manchester United on a free transfer back in the summer of 2009.

If he truly loved the Reds, he would not have signed for the Red Devils. With that being the case, it was probably a good thing that Owen never returned to Anfield.

You don't hear too many Liverpool supporters speaking highly of the former forward.