Rooney, Drogba, Crespo, & more: Looking back at 2004's transfer merry-go-round of strikers

3. Micheal Owen - Liverpool to Real Madrid (£8 million, 13th August, 2004)

Michael Owen

Micheal Owen combined speed, acceleration and accurate finishing to become one of the deadliest strikers during his prime, probably second only to the great Ronaldo, who'd be his teammate during his solitary season at Real Madrid. Such was Liverpool's dependence on him that Sam Allardice once said, "Stop Michael Owen scoring and you are 50 per cent towards getting a result at Anfield."

Owen burst on to the scene as a 17-year old and scored on his Premier League debut against Wimbledon on 12th May 1997. However, a 2-1 defeat handed Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United the title. Owen would never win the coveted prize with Liverpool and a free transfer to the old enemy would hand him a Premier League medal.

After being top scorer for Liverpool in each of his 8 seasons with the club and winning the Ballon d'Or in 2001 as Liverpool won the now mockingly dubbed 'Mickey Mouse' treble of the FA Cup, League Cup and the UEFA Cup, Owen moved to Real Madrid in August 2004 after months of media speculation. Unfortunately for Owen, this move would be his undoing. Aged just 22, he was seen as the centre forward for a Galactico Madrid side for the foreseeable future. Owen made sporadic appearances, most of them from the bench and yet managed to score 13 goals, including Madrid's fourth in a 4-2 win in the El Classico in April 2005.

Blackburn Rovers v Newcastle United

The Englishman then moved to Newcastle in a club-record £16 million deal. Owen's stint in the northwest of England can only be termed as disastrous as he managed only 79 appearances scoring 30 goals in 5 injury-ravaged seasons. He also captained the magpies to relegation in 2009.

Owen enraged the Liverpool faithful when he joined Manchester United in 2009. He scored 17 goals over a mere 52 appearances over 3 seasons capturing the Premier League in 2011-12. Owen's most important contribution was his injury-time winner against Manchester City in a thrilling encounter at Old Trafford which United won 4-3 in September 2009. Owen left Manchester United at the conclusion of the 2011-12 season and joined Stoke City on a free, where he scored a solitary goal in 9 appearances before retiring aged 33 meaning he scored only 48 club goals after attaining the age of 23.