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Newcastle United risk alienating their most important player after publicising details of their contract negotiations with Michael Owen yesterday. The England striker will resume talks this week about extending a deal that is in its final season and he is committed to the club, but there is concern at the club’s negotiating tactics. Owen will not be bounced into anything.

After selling James Milner to Aston Villa on Friday for a fee that could rise to £12 million and with the transfer window closing tonight, Newcastle’s decision to release an official statement claiming that Owen had been offered a three-year extension on improved wages caught the striker’s camp unawares.

There was more news for Owen to digest last night when Fabio Capello, the England manager, left the forward out of his squad for the World Cup qualifying matches against Andorra and Croatia.

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Discussions between Owen and Newcastle are continuing and the player is relishing working under Kevin Keegan’s management, but the contract on the table does not equate to a pay rise on his basic £115,000-a-week terms, but contains incentives and reams of small print. Owen, who could leave Tyneside on a free transfer next summer, is entitled to enter talks with rival clubs in January.

“Newcastle United can confirm that captain Michael Owen has been offered an extended and improved three-year contract,” a club official said. “The proposed terms of the new deal include an increased salary for Michael and demonstrate the club’s commitment to keeping him.”

Given that the Newcastle hierarchy ignored Keegan’s pleas until the end of last season to secure the future of their most high-profile player, it is believed that they have brought this state of affairs upon themselves.

Newcastle have until midnight to bolster a first-team squad that was small even before Milner’s move to Villa Park. While the winger submitted a transfer request, his chief frustration was that Dennis Wise, the club’s executive director, had refused to discuss awarding him a new deal.

Newcastle, who had ambitious targets such as Javier Saviola, Luka Modric and Arda Turan, have left things late. They have asked about Olivier Kapo, who only recently joined Wigan Athletic from Birmingham City, and, according to reports in Spain, have agreed a season-long loan deal for Ignacio González, the Valencia and Uruguay midfield player.