Michael Owen compares himself to Mbappe, claims he would be worth £100m-plus
Michael Owen has compared himself to Kylian Mbappe and believes he would have commanded a similar transfer fee to the Paris Saint-Germain striker in today's market.
Mbappe, 23, became the second-most expensive player in history when he joined PSG in a £163m move from Monaco in 2018 aged just 18.
Real Madrid reportedly bid more than £145m for Mbappe in the summer of 2021 despite the striker having just one year left on his contract at the Parc des Princes.
The France international turned down the chance to move to Madrid on a free transfer this summer, instead signing a new three-year deal with the French champions.
Like Mbappe, Owen also burst onto the scene as a youngster and won the Ballon d'Or at the age of just 21 after winning the Europa League, FA Cup and EFL Cup with Liverpool.
And the former Reds striker believes, as a teenager, he would have commanded a similar fee to World Cup winner Mbappe in today's market.
"I don't know. I mean, it felt like figures were a little bit higher, one or two years ago than they actually are now," said Owen, when asked by AceOdds what his value would be today.
"Obviously, the [Erling] Haaland move wasn't really a true reflection of his price because of the agency fee and all the different stipulations he had in the contract.
"So it was an open market, free market, when I was 19, 20 and at the absolute peak of my powers.
"I don't know, you're talking £100-something million probably, I guess it's hard to say."
Owen added: "Well, what's Mbappe worth nowadays? I really don't know. If he was to leave PSG you'd be looking at £150/£200 million maybe? So if a Mbappe was worth 150/200 [million], I don't know...
"But yeah, I was that similar type of player who was breaking through, winning the Ballon d'Or, won two Golden Boots and went to the World Cup at 18 and all that kind of stuff."
Owen would leave Liverpool in 2004 to join Real Madrid, with the Merseyside club receiving just £8m – plus Antonio Nunez – for the England international.
After just a single season at the Bernabeu, Owen returned to English football with Newcastle but would struggle with injuries throughout his time in the North East.
He controversially moved to Liverpool's bitter rivals Manchester United in 2009, winning the Premier League the following season, before moving on to Stoke City in 2012 where he ended his playing career.
Reflecting on the trajectory of his career, Owen joked: "The one thing that you would say is even if I was worth £150 million, then probably if someone bought it they wouldn't have got a bargain because my career sort of got worse as I got older."
Henry
just love writing about football and playing video games, love my quiet time also. contact me @ [email protected]
