Michael Owen has warned Alexander Isak that he will be walking into a cauldron of hostility when he returns to St James' Park this afternoon. Isak returns to Tyneside for the first time since he left Newcastle United for Liverpool last summer.
Hero-turned-traitor
The Swede became a hero-turned-traitor in the eyes of Newcastle supporters after he downed tools to force through a £125m move to Anfield. But former Magpies forward Owen believes Isak will cope with the reception he receives.
He said: “I am sure he will cope (with the hostile reception) because he’s not the first and he won’t be the last to go back to his former club; that is just what happens in football.
“You are not a fan really, once you play the game professionally, then things like this occur because it is not like a fan, where you support a team when you are three years old and then you never change in your whole life, and I would be exactly the same if I wasn’t a footballer.
Owen's own experience
“It will be tough (for him), and I didn’t particularly like going back to my old clubs. People like cuddling and kissing, seeing the old members of staff and all the rest of it.
“I didn’t like going back to my old clubs to play. I just felt my heart was still, let's just say, at Liverpool, and having to play against them was not the nicest thing for me, but you have to be professional, and you have got to do it.
“But Isak has a big year ahead of him, and it is going to start in a cauldron, but he’s got a big year because Liverpool obviously need him.”
Former England international Owen was speaking at the launch of his new docuseries 'Meet the Owens' on Amazon Prime Video.
No split loyalties
The now 46-year-old joined Newcastle from Real Madrid in August 2005 for a then club-record £16 million. However, injuries restricted him to just 79 appearances, scoring 30 times, in four seasons at St James' Park.
And there is no case of split loyalties for Owen this afternoon, who admitted: “I grew up in the Liverpool academy, so that is the team that pulls on my heartstrings and the team that I have always supported.
“I am really looking forward to the start of the Premier League, it also means a kickstart back to work for me. Four hours down to the studio, eight hours on air and then four hours back home and getting home at 4am in the morning.
“It is long, and it is getting my head back into proper work instead of the racing game instead of the last two or three months, which has obviously occupied my mind.
“But I think that break of a couple of months, even though there has been a World Cup year, that break gives us a chance to really get the bit between your teeth again and look forward to a new season.”
*All six episodes of Meet the Owens will be available to stream on Amazon Prime Video from August 28.
