Michael Owen Confesses Relationship With Liverpool Fans Still 'Kills' Him

​Michael Owen has opened up again on his Liverpool departure in 2004 and admits that the way he is now perceived by the club's supporters after later joining Manchester United has left him emotionally scarred - even 16 years on.

Across an eight-year spell with the Reds, Owen scored 158 goals for the club and claimed two Premier League Golden Boots and the Ballon d'Or crown in 2001, along with three domestic trophies during a prolific spell at Anfield.

While Liverpool lifted the Champions League in the season after Owen's departure, the striker's move to Real Madrid failed to reach similar heights and he returned to England with Newcastle just a year later - despite rumours of a Liverpool homecoming. 

Owen's reputation on Merseyside was tarnished even further after he signed for bitter rivals ​Manchester United in 2009. 

Speaking on ​The Greatest Game podcast, Owen revealed his Liverpool exit and the resulting events that would follow in his career had left wounds that will never heal.

"I have almost had to cut off, it has been painful going back to Anfield and hearing boos while I was at Newcastle," Owen confessed. "Crying in the playing lounge and hoping nobody sees. You [Carragher] going public helped but it has been torture for a long time. It is like splitting up with your wife. I can only blame myself, I said yes to Real Madrid."

While his departure in 2004 hurt Liverpool fans, it was Owen's move across the north west to United that tainted his reputation for some on Merseyside - something that haunts the former striker to this day.

"If I am walking along the Kop, they're saying ‘you are an effing Manc’ or whatever and I have got to live with that now and it bloody hurts," Owen said, before adding his resentment at the way he is remembered at what he considers 'his club'.

"It has killed me for ages and the wound will never go. I can’t do anything about what is in my heart, sadly because it would be brilliant for me, I would live a lovely peaceful happy life if I could say ‘I don’t care then’ but the problem is I do," he added.

"I know who my club is but I can’t change what I have done. I made the decision, I am not blaming anyone. Any one of those 60,000 fans at Anfield have got the ability to break my heart. You can’t help now, looking at players past and present, players who have done jack s*** for the club who now have a job with the club. If they turn up at the centre circle they get their name sung."

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