Should Michael Owen lower his standards?

MICHAEL Owen will no longer be a Newcastle player when his contract with the Tyneside club ends at the end of the month. The sad thing is – only Hull City has expressed an interest in the former Liverpool and Real Madrid striker.

The sadder thing is, the striker’s management company have had to produced a 34-page brochure to entice clubs to sign him up.

To think that Owen was once one of the most-feared strikers in England, scoring 30 goals in 79 games for Newcastle and 40 goals in 89 appearances for the Three Lions.

But his much-vaunted speed has gone with age, and he has been tagged “fragile” after spending much of his club careers on the treatment tables.

Some Premiership players have sought the lesser leagues in England, the Middle East or Australia (see Robbie Fowler) when they are reaching the twilight of their careers.

While Owen might just be all of 29, he has been seen as many as past his prime. So should the diminutive striker consider going down the same path as Fowler and co., or wait in hope for a “good Premiership club” to come along with an offer that would match his £110,000-a-week wages at Newcastle?

Where should Ribery go if he leaves Bayern?

MANCHESTER United has joined the race to land Frenchman Franck Ribery, said Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (read Soccernet story here).

The English champions have joined Chelsea and Barcelona with bids for Ribery, who is touted to be the next Zinedine Zidane, while Real Madrid are said to be interested in the player as well.

Although Rummenigge has insisted that Ribery will see out his contract at the German club, a big-money bid might persuade them to release ‘the jewel of French football’.

If Ribery does leave Bayern, which club is he most suitable for?

Ronny’s Real move – one step forward or two steps back?

ALONG with a sizable group of Man United fans here, I am SERIOUSLY happy that the talented but petulant Cristiano Ronaldo will finally be heading out of the Old Trafford doors, but too much have been written about that already.

Let’s put the focus on the man from Madeira instead.

Is he going to a better football club, a club that would make him better as a football player and win him more titles – individual and team?

If you were David Villa, where would you go?

AFTER securing Kaka’s signature on Monday, Real Madrid are turning their attention on Cristiano Ronaldo and David Villa, who scored a hat-trick against Azerbaijan earlier this week.

The Spanish hitman, who starred in last year’s Euro08, is also being pursued by Chelsea, who already have Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka on their books. The London club are also reportedly in the market for Franck Ribery and Alexandre Pato.

On the other hand, Real have Raul, Gonzalo Higuain, Arjen Robben and Javier Saviola, as well as new recruit Klass Jan Huntelaar, who moved in January.

With Valencia all but forced to sell their prized players due to their financial situation, Villa could be left with no choice but to leave the Spanish club, with Chelsea and Real being the frontrunners.

But if you were the 27-year-old, which club would you move to?

Who will be next in the Galacticos v2.0 line-up?

NEW Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has signalled his intention of rebuilding the ‘Galacticos’ era at the Bernabeu by signing Kaka on a world record transfer late last night (Singapore time).

The Brazilian superstar reportedly moved on a £56m transfer from Milan, eclipsing the £47m Real paid for Zinedine Zidane’s services in 2001, which is incidentally the last ‘Galacticos’ era under Perez.

Other than Kaka, Real are said to be after the likes of Franck Ribery, Nemanja Vidic, David Villa, Cristiano Ronaldo, David Silva and Xabi Alonso.

The question is – who are Real most likely to add next to their stable of overpaid superstars?

Transfer season: who will emerge the biggest winner in three-cornered ‘fight’?

THE transfer season has opened with a bang as Real Madrid looks to have claimed Kaka’s signature, with Chelsea launching a late and desperate bid.

Meanwhile, Manchester City has ‘stolen’ Gareth Barry from right under the noses of Liverpool, even though the Citizens are not even playing in the new Europa League, much less the Champions League football the England midfielder had previously said he craves.

The scene seems set for a three-corner battle among the cash-rich clubs Chelsea, Manchester City and Real Madrid in the transfer market, making the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool look like paupers.

New Real president Florentino Perez is keen to revive his infamous Galacticos project at the Bernabeu, with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Xabi Alonso in his crosshairs.

On the other hand, City are continuing their rebuilding, following last season’s influx of oil money from the Middle East. On top of Robinho and Barry, the club is hoping to persuade Carlos Tevez to defect to the blue side of Manchester, along with Everton’s Joleon Lescott.

And meantime in London, Roman Abramovich has once again loosened his purse strings for Carlo Ancelotti, in an attempt to revitalise his ageing squad to clinch the Champions League trophy that he so covets.

It will be an interesting three months of transfer activity ahead, as big money gets thrown around carelessly by these three clubs. The question is – which of these three will come up tops by the end August?

Is it time for Arsene Wenger to take on a new “project”?

IT IS the time of the season where rumours of arrivals and departures abound, and the latest speculation is about Arsene Wenger’s possible departure to Real Madrid.

Now the Frenchman had been routinely linked to various top jobs in the past, including the Real job a few years ago, and usually he would clear up any doubts in a jiffy by declaring his loyalty for Arsenal.

Not this time though.

When asked to comment on Real presidental hopeful Florentino Pérez’s plans to revive the “galacticos” era at the Bernabeu, Wenger said: “With Florentino Pérez in charge, the project he has put forward would be ­interesting for any coach but I would prefer not to comment on this.”

When asked if he intends to honour his contract, which runs till 2011, he said: “In general I usually stay until the end of my contract.”

In general?

Wenger has faced fierce criticism in recent weeks for sticking to his youth policy at Arsenal, which has resulted in a third consecutive trophy-less season, having some of the brightest young talent in English football now.

“You sit here, you are in the last four in Europe, and every day you feel you have killed someone. It is unbelievable. If you do not take a distance with it, you think: ‘What kind of world do we live in?'”

The question now is – do you think Arsene Wenger should move on to a new project, or should he stick around at the Emirates Stadium to see his youth policy bear fruit?

What went wrong with Liverpool this morning?

FOR A team that has been riding high since the 4-0 mauling of Real Madrid in the Champions League last month, Liverpool’s stunning run was brought to an end early this morning with a 3-1 defeat by Chelsea at Anfield.

The Reds started brightly enough though, taking the lead in the 4th minute through Fernando Torres, but it soon fell apart soon enough.

What do you think was the main cause of Liverpool’s defeat? Was it the effective shackling of Steven Gerrard by Michael Essien, or was it the ineffective zonal marking when Liverpool defended its corners? Or maybe it was a poor performance for Lucas, who was deputising for the suspended Javier Mascherano?

On a side note, it could just be me, but Liverpool suffered another blip in their form after flying high in the previous games, straight after Rafa Benitez made comments about Sir Alex Ferguson.

In January, it was about Fergie’s influence on referees and the fixtures list, and recently it was about Fergie being scared stiff by a resurgent Liverpool. Quite a coincidence, isn’t it?

Where should Mourinho go from here?

A Guardian report mulls over the possibility of Jose Mourinho returning to Chelsea after the end of this season, where he “is expected to leave Internazionale after a year in Italy, most likely with a Serie A title to his name but having failed to his primary objective of bring the European Cup to San Siro following elimination at the hands of Manchester United.”

The report said that the charismatic manager is still warmly regarded by Chelsea’s senior players, and the man himself have spoken publicly about his love for the London club and his desire to return one day.

However, just a week ago he also left open the possibility of managing rivals Manchester United when Sir Alex Ferguson eventually retires.

“Who can say no? Nobody could say ‘no’,” he said then. “Manchester United belongs to a small group of clubs around the world where nobody can say ‘no’.”

His possible exit from Inter may attract the interests of cash-rich Manchester City and Real Madrid, or he may even just stay on at the San Siro to make amends for the Champions League exit this season.

But where would be the best destination for the Special One, should he leave the Italian club this season?

Ronaldo – should he stay or just go far, far away?

WITH Frederico Macheda’s stunning injury-time winner, Ronaldo’s brace had all but become a footnote in the game between Manchester United and Aston Villa last night.

While he has scored 19 goals in all competitions this season, Ronaldo has been a shadow of the player he was last season after the summer transfer debacle with Real Madrid.

And now with rumours surfacing again on Ronaldo’s departure to the Bernabeu at the end of this season, it would be time to reflect on this season and wonder again if keeping Ronaldo at Old Trafford is really worth all the trouble?

THE POSTMAN LIM SAY HENG says: Just go, Ronaldo. Go straight to Real – do not pass ‘Go’, do not collect $200 and please, don’t trip over air and try to look for a free-kick.