English footballer Michael Owen has seen his stock soar since scoring a historic hat-trick in Saturday’s emotional 5-1 win over Germany. The 21-year-old heart-throb helped England trounce their foes in the all-important World Cup qualifying match, and now Michael is poised to cash in on his recent successes.
The Liverpool striker is said to be worth £10 million but as he renegotiates his contract he’ll likely earn significantly more than his current £60,000-per-week salary. However, the real money will come from lucrative endorsement deals.
“He can expect a boost of 25 to 30 per cent on his outside earnings, maybe even more,” says the editor of Soccer Investor magazine, Oliver Butler. “His exploits will definitely have upped his value as a marketable product and ‘brand’.”
And should Liverpool put him on the market, insiders expect Michael could easily shatter the current transfer record set in July when Real Madrid purchased French footballer Zinedine Zidane for £48 million. “He would certainly be worth about the same as Zidane and could fetch a lot more,” reports Butler.
Michael made his debut aged 18, the youngest England cap of the 20th centruy. Yet while he’s riding high now, after scoring three goals against the backdrop of Munich’s famed Olympic Park, he admits he wasn’t always the hero. “Under past England managers I was not exactly flavour of the month,” he said. But since coach Sven Goran Eriksson pulled him aside for a pep talk during a recent match with Spain, he’s gone from strength to strength.
“For me, Michael Owen has something very special,” says the famed Swedish coach. “He’s a good football player and his technique is excellent but he has two things which are difficult to find in a football player. He’s very cold when you get to a huge occasion like the Germany match and he is very, very quick. If you have that combination then that is the killer.”
The English team, led by captain David Beckham who fought off a groin injury to compete on Saturday, faces off against Albania on Wednesday in their quest for World Cup glory. The team last won the World Cup in 1966 after beating the Germans in the final.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
