Joining Manchester United is a massive challenge for Michael Owen, but he will see it as a golden opportunity to get back into the England team. If he is scoring goals and playing well for the Premier League champions, he cannot be ignored by Fabio Capello. So in a way it’s the biggest season in Michael’s career. He’s at a crossroads at club and international level.

Part of his value to Sir Alex Ferguson is that he has played at the highest level with Real Madrid, and he won’t shirk the challenge of being a United player.

I think Sir Alex looks at some players and thinks: “Yes, he’s played at that club, and he’s played at that club, but can he play at United? Can he handle it?” With Owen, he will think: “Yes, he has played on the biggest European stage and got goals.” If you can get goals at Real, as a substitute or a starter, you can do it anywhere. And there are not too many available players out there who could do that.

There are no guarantees, but Fergie probably hopes that Michael can bring the extra experience and knowhow that Teddy Sheringham did. He knew that Teddy would rise to the challenge, that he had the required attitude and arrogance for that situation — after all, in a way, he had to replace Eric Cantona.

But in another way it is one of Fergie’s weirdest signings. Not because Owen can’t get goals — he will always get chances and he will usually take them. Some may even see it as a strange reaction to losing out to Real in the race to sign Karim Benzema from Lyons, a young and highly coveted striker.

But my biggest doubt is how much football you will get out of him. It’s so unlike Fergie to take on a player with Michael’s injury record. Fergie has only done that once before, with Owen Hargreaves, who was known within the game to have questions over his fitness.

There will be a lot of chances going in an attacking team like United’s, and Owen will take them. He will probably have a one-in-two ratio of goals to openings, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets 15 goals. But I would be surprised if he plays more than 25 games.

Of course, for a club as wealthy as United he’s a low-risk option, whereas to most clubs he would represent a big gamble. What is interesting is that so many managers had reservations, didn’t want him, but the man who won the Premier League does. Owen is on a free transfer and if this had happened three years ago, he would have had every club in the Premier League wanting to sign him. Now it was just Hull City and United.

My other worry is that I’m just not convinced it’s great for Wayne Rooney. I thought he would lead the line next season as the pivotal player in the attack. Once Cristiano Ronaldo left, it was Fergie’s chance to say: “Wayne, you’re going straight down the middle, you don’t have to worry about Ronaldo coming in and playing in your position at times. You are going to be the main striker.” Will that happen now?

Owen doesn’t do a lot outside the penalty area, which means that Rooney, again, will have to do a lot of work outside the box. They have played together before for England, but when Rooney scored four goals at Euro 2004 in Portugal and looked as if he would end up as the leading goalscorer, I never really thought it was because of Owen alongside him. Ronaldo made a lot of openings for Rooney, but Owen doesn’t create much for his striking partners, doesn’t really fit into team play — he has always been a predator. What will Owen do for Rooney?

At first, the jury will be out. If he does well, he will win over the United fans, but like me they may be thinking that this is one of Fergie’s strangest signings.