The arrival of Michael Owen at Manchester United has been met with a lot of mixed reaction. There is a group that sees the move as a further sign thatSir Alex Ferguson is going a bit mad in his old age. The other group of people believe that United have snapped up one of the best goal scorers of recent times and that it could come to help the club substantially.

It had been well publicised that Owen was looking for a move away from Newcastle United after they got relegated. However, the point is that it was smaller Premier League clubs that were the expected destinations and not the actual champions of England.

Owen must not be able to believe his luck, after all his best days are behind him and he is still on a good wage packet, which turned out to be the main difference between himself and his previous club. It means that he will be earning a lot of money and probably not playing a great deal as United are likely to make a lot more signings during the transfer window.

Ferguson will say though that his club have snapped up a proven player for free and have the advantage of experience and calibre to call upon if needed. Nobody in a million years would have expected United to sign Owen and it seems that his arrival at Old Trafford is nothing more than a stopgap. If the former England front man can get fit and stay fit then he could well end up having a much larger role to play in the side but as we have so often seen in the past, this is always a lot more difficult as far as Michael Owen is concerned.

It is a good move for the player but a debateable one for the club. United have £80 million in the bank and need to make good the loss of two brilliant players that have already left this season. It is no disrespect to Owen but he is hardly the man that Ferguson would have had in mind to replace the Portuguese guy that has just left for Real Madrid.

It is nothing more than a smart and shrewd business move that can allow United to strengthen further in area while continuing the pursuit of many other targets. Owen should realise how lucky he has been and this should act as an incentive to work his socks off for his new club. If he does then it could have a number of added advantages and turn out to be one of Ferguson’s best ever signings when he does eventually retire.

What Owen brings to the club is a lot of experience in a relatively non-egotistical person. Experience is every thing to a lot of the younger players in the side that are trying to make a name for themselves and Owen can offer so much as far as this is concerned. All of the youths at the club will know who he is and what he has done so they will pay attention and listen. You do not play for Liverpool and Real Madrid as well as captaining your national side if you are a bad player.

Yes it is fair enough to say that Owen is not the player that he was maybe five or six years ago but the point is that class is permanent and form is temporary. The reason that Ferguson has signed Owen is because firstly, he is a good player, he can still score a lot of goals and offer an awful lot to any side. The other reason he has signed Owen is because he can offer so much more to the club than any other squad player he could just go and pick.

Owen has already stated his intent to put everything behind him and get his fitness exactly right for the new season. A fit Michael Owen is a daunting proposition for any side. Furthermore, United have not had a goal poacher since Ruud Van Nistelrooy left for Real Madrid a couple of years back.

These sort of players have the ability to pick up a lot of scrappy goals, which quite often can make the difference between winning and losing in a lot of games. These players are priceless and Owen is one of them.

It is naïve to say that he will be able to run around and sprint past most defences because those days are behind him. Michael Owen cannot do now what he was once able to do, as is the case with all ageing players. He has a better ability now to be able to read the game and get into the right positions and will no doubt pop up with a few important goals in the Premier League and Champions League at some point during the next season.

The argument that Ferguson is losing it is there for all to read and consider but it is a difficult one to read into when you consider every thing that Ferguson has so far achieved at his club. Fair enough he has made one or two debatable decisions this summer but he so often gets it right and this could well turn out to prove just the same.

No club wants to lose their best player but it is impossible to keep that player if he does not want to stay in the side and at the club. Ask any manager in the Premier League and they will say that they would rather have a lower quality player who is busting to get into the side than a high quality player who does not give a second thought to the club, the team mates or the fans.

Michael Owen’s career is back on track and only time will tell whether it has been a good move for all concerned. He will have to work very hard this summer to get fit enough to warrant a first team place but it is obvious that he does not want to sit on the bench and it is obvious that this transfer has revitalised him.

Many will laugh at Ferguson but he could be proven right all over again by the time the new season kicks off again in August.