Dubai: Former England and Liverpool striker Michael Owen ruled out a u-turn on his decision to retire from football, when speaking to press in Dubai on Tuesday.
Here as part of a fleeting visit to the emirate at a hotel function honouring Dubai’s 50 most influential Britons, Owen, 33, who scored 40 goals in 89 appearances for England, confirmed nothing could sway his decision to hang up his boots.
Despite announcing his love for the emirate on Twitter.com after the trip and his previous links to Dubai side Al Shabab Al Arabi at the beginning of last season before he joined Stoke City, Owen said even a big money move to the UAE was now off the cards.
“My mind is pretty made up now,” said Owen who scored 158 goals in 297 games for Liverpool before spells at Real Madrid, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Stoke.
“I’ve been thinking about it for a while and football is not as much fun when you’ve been able to do it at a real high standard and then suddenly you’re finding it hard to reach those standards again. Your pride gets dented a little bit.
“I’m pretty sure its all finished. I’ve a few different businesses I’m looking forward to going into such as co-commentary and TV work. That should keep me busy and I’ve got a couple of other businesses representing young players and different bits and bobs, so I’m looking forward to a change of role now.”
Of a possible managerial career, he added: “Coaching is an obvious path to take after football. During my career I worked on my badges and passed the first two. I’ve still got a bit to go to be fully qualified to manage at the top level but as I stand now its not something I’ve got on my mind. I’m looking at doing other things.”
