-
Related
Michael Owen fancies himself in red or white.
He's played for a collection of the world's most celebrated football clubs in those colours - Liverpool, Real Madrid and Manchester United.
And he pulled on white for his national side, for which he scored the goal against Argentina that propelled him to superstardom.
But as he posed with the striped shirt of Stoke City, you could forgive him for wondering how the heck he ended up at the Britannia Stadium.
Once the spearhead of the Three Lions and one of the most clinical finishers of his generation, Owen's career is now fizzling into oblivion. It's a sad sight, and the decline has been painful.
His homecoming to English football from Real Madrid seven years ago was depressingly underwhelming. Owen returned to terrorise premiership defences with his raw pace and instinctive goalscoring.
At the time, Newcastle manager Graeme Souness claimed: "He's the current England No 9 and this club has had a history of wonderful centre-forwards over the years. He's someone who can become a legend with Newcastle United fans."
Except, that never happened. A four-year stint on Tyneside tarnished his golden CV, although he was hampered by constant injuries and a cruciate ligament tear sustained during the 2006 World Cup.
He suffered the indignity of relegation in 2009 and never won the hearts of the famous Toon Army (probably not helped by the fact that he took the helicopter into training sessions from Cheshire).
Then came a bizarre 32-page dossier sent out by Owen's representatives, advertising him to prospective employers. Manchester United saw value in the striker and he managed 17 goals in 52 appearances, but his stay at Old Trafford was limited to bit-part appearances.
It's a strange move for Tony Pulis to sign a small, injury-prone striker to slot into the physical Stoke City line-up. Who's to say he'll even start many matches?
Maybe Owen can light the fire once more and enjoy a fruitful spell at Stoke. It's the least this once-prodigious talent deserves, but all signs point to the feeling that this is just the beginning of the end.