Houllier wants Owen reunion
Aston Villa manager Gerard Houllier says he would "love" to be reunited with Michael Owen once again should the Manchester United striker become available.
Houllier managed Owen during the most productive years of the striker's career, with the pinnacle coming in 2001 when Liverpool won the treble of FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup, with Owen going on to be named European Player of the Year.
Owen is only a fringe member of the United squad at present, starting just one Premier League game this season, and ahead of Villa's game against their former club Liverpool on Monday, Houllier has made no attempt to disguise his interest in the player.
"I would love to bring him here," Houllier told theMail on Sunday. "He would be good for the group and has a joyful attitude to playing."
Houllier has also revealed how he attempted to sign Cristiano Ronaldo for Liverpool, but lost out to Manchester United when he refused to meet the then teenager's wage demands.
"I saw him in the Toulon Under-21 tournament and we went for him, but we had a wage scale and we weren't paying the sort of salary he wanted," Houllier said. "Then Manchester United played a friendly against Sporting Lisbon and all their boys said to Sir Alex Ferguson, 'You have to sign him'. But I agreed with not breaking the wage structure. I thought it would cause problems in our dressing room.
"I know some of the signings were not as sharp as they could have been. Maybe we would have won the title with Ronaldo, but we had Harry Kewell, who was outstanding at the time and was very hungry but got a bad injury. After that, he never had the same confidence, the same appetite."
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