The prospect of a free agent being brought in has not been excluded
from Liverpool's thinking, though a return for Owen would be dependent
on the club receiving a highly incentivised pay-as-you-play proposal
which would limit their exposure if fitness problems rendered him unable
to play.
Liverpool, who as of yesterday afternoon had not had
contact from Owen, would be unlikely to match the imaginative £10,000 to
£15,000-a-week deal Manchester United struck with the 32-year-old.
Though Owen is looking for a club commutable from his North Wales home
and still holds Liverpool in huge affection, the £30,000-a-week,
two-year offer from Stoke City looks far more likely.
