Source: Daily_Mail
Free agent Owen just too risky to bring to Blackburn, says Allardyce
Michael Owen's first day as a free agent ended with Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce admitting that he would not take a gamble on the former England striker.
If Owen's camp thought their sales brochure would drum up interest outside Hull and Stoke after his £110,00-a-week contract at Newcastle expired on Monday, they were given a harsh reality check by Allardyce.
The Blackburn boss, who managed Owen at Newcastle,may have put a new striker at the top of his list after selling Roque Santa Cruz to Manchester City and Matt Derbyshire to Olympiakos, but he is not tempted to sign 29- year-old Owen following his injury problems over the past few years.
Asked if the former Liverpool and Real Madrid striker was an option, Allardyce replied: 'No, not for me. I don't think we could afford him and the problem with Michael, from the injury aspect, is we can ill afford to sign a player who is going to be out of the team and can't guarantee me 36-plus games a season.
'It's unfortunate for Michael but if you look at the last three years I cannot take a gamble on that.'
The damning verdict from Allardyce comes in spite of the fact he admits Blackburn desperately need to sign a new striker.
He added: 'If all the money I had available has to go on my striker then that's it. We're not going to sign any more players in any other position just yet until we've secured aplayer up front.'
Everton, Hull and Stoke remain the only BarclaysPremier League clubs to express an interest in Owen, who is desperate to revive his career ahead of next year's World Cup in South Africa.
