OWEN

Just a few excerpts from the usually more reliable papers

Real Madid last night cleared the way for Michael Owen to return to the English Premiership. The England striker slipped further down the pecking order at the Bernabeu when the Spanish giants finally concluded their purchase of the Brazilian prodigy Robinho, and a senior club official told The Sunday Times that Real would not stand in the player’s way should he want to leave.

"Michael is popular with the fans and he is popular within the club, but if he comes to us and says that he believes the best thing for him is to leave, we will have to respect that," said the Real Madrid source. "He has been a great servant to us, we will treat him with the utmost decency and respect, and in the event that he decides to go, while obviously looking out for our own interests, we will be sure to look out for his too."

United, for whom goalscoring was a serious problem last season, would like to have Owen on board, but their interest is complicated by the fact Sir Alex Ferguson considers his main priority in the transfer market to be finding a successor to Roy Keane. United have monitored Bayern Munich’s Michael Ballack and a bid for the German moved closer to happening over the past few days in Japan, where United and Bayern were billetted in the same hotel in Tokyo — along with Ballack’ s agent, Michael Becker. Sources at Old Trafford have hinted a move may be imminent, although with Ballack out of contract at the end of the season United are considering waiting until he is a free agent next summer, in the hope of getting one last productive season out of Keane.

Madrid could signal Michael Owen's return to the Premiership, and his destination could be Manchester United, who need another goalscorer in their squad.

Real have not suggested yet that pressure will be put on any of their current strikers to leave, but with the Brazilian coming in they may well be happy to say farewell to any one of them who considers that his need for regular first-team football in the run-up to next year's World Cup finals in Germany dictates that he must move on.

United have not sparkled pre-season and Sir Alex Ferguson, their manager, might want to link Owen with England colleague Wayne Rooney.

Manchester United are clear favourites to sign Michael Owen after a series of developments that have made the England striker's departure from Real Madrid a certainty.

Though there have been no talks yet, informally both United and Real are aware that a deal is in the interests of both clubs. Real, who paid £17million for Julio Baptista from Sevilla last week, have splashed out a fee said to be closer to £20m on Baptista's fellow Brazil striker Robinho, arguably the most sought-after young player in the world.

Owen has already rejected overtures from Newcastle and, according to a source close to him, Everton, Bolton and the German side Schalke. While there are those on the Arsenal coaching staff who see Owen as the man to complement Thierry Henry, Arsene Wenger is apparently not among them and would take a great deal of persuading to change his mind. Jose Mourinho has shown no interest in bringing the player to Chelsea.

Sir Alex Ferguson, though, is a long-standing admirer of the England striker. Manchester United struggled for goals last season, and Ruud van Nistelrooy, who was unable to shake off fully the effects of injury, has failed to score on the current Far East tour. Wayne Rooney was an undoubted success but not prolific, while Alan Smith is being earmarked for a midfield role. Louis Saha has not convinced since his 2004 move.

Owen is on his way back from Real's tour of China to a training camp in Austria and expects to sit down with Real officials this week to discuss his departure.