Opinion | Life after Liverpool: Emre Can joins Michael Owen in having regrets after walking away from European Champions
- German international has struggled since his move away from Anfield and this week was left out of the Italian champions’ Champions League squad
- Michael Owen has talked about how he longed to return to Liverpool after choosing to walk away before club became Champions of Europe
Michael Owen made a classic mistake. The England striker left Liverpool in the summer of 2004 for Real Madrid. By the end of the season, Owen’s former team were champions of Europe and the striker was facing the exit door at the Bernabeu.
The next time he played at Anfield, for Newcastle United, the Kop chanted, “Where were you in Istanbul?” at their former hero.
The 39-year-old has been rehashing events in advance of the release of a new autobiography, Reboot: My Life, My Time. The leaving of Liverpool – and Owen’s inability to return to the club – defined the second, less successful part of his career.
At the same time a less illustrious former player, Emre Can, was in the news. The 25-year-old has been omitted from Juventus’ Champions League squad. The German left Merseyside after the 2018 final in Kiev, having played seven minutes as a substitute in Liverpool’s 3-1 defeat by Real Madrid. Like Owen, he had to look on in envy as his former club won the trophy a year later.
Leaving Liverpool is a risky business. Few top-class players at the peak of their careers go on to better things. Even Kevin Keegan, the club’s first genuine superstar, found things difficult after moving on from Merseyside.