LIVERPOOL’S prevarication over the purchase of Michael Owen could cost them a couple of million pounds. The Euro- pean champions remain favourites to sign the Real Madrid forward but Newcastle United may have driven the price up yesterday when, in a move that surprised and annoyed Owen’s advisers, they attempted to ambush his return to Anfield by offering £16 million.

The England striker remains hopeful of a move back to Liverpool but he will require more of the patience that has served him so well during his year in Spain. No offer for Owen is expected from Merseyside until after tomorrow’s European Super Cup in Monaco and Rick Parry, the chief executive, may find Real greedy for more than the £11 million or so that Liverpool had hoped to pay to bring the forward home.

What was already a difficult set of negotiations for Tony Stephens, Owen’s agent from the SFX organisation, became even more complicated when Newcastle leapt in with both feet yesterday. Owen and his representatives have emphasised to Real that they will consider only a loan move to St James’ Park and so the revelation that Newcastle had made a club record bid — some sources claimed it was as high as £18 million, £3 million more than they paid for Alan Shearer — was unwelcome for the England player even if it delighted the board at the Bernabéu.

After another match without a goal in his team’s defeat by Bolton Wanderers last night, Graeme Souness, the Newcastle manager, said: “Him (Owen) coming here on loan is not an option. As I understand, there’s not a chance.

“Real Madrid have spent a lot of money on Robinho and (Júlio) Baptista and they want to recoup some of that. We have made a whacking great bid for him and I don’t think a loan is an option. It’s up to us to make the deal as attractive to Michael as possible. I don’t think our start to the season will have affected his decision because we have not played badly.”

Real were more than happy formally to accept Newcastle’s offer and they will now use it as a lever when Liverpool come to the negotiating table. The fear for Owen must be that Liverpool, having sold him for £8 million last year, will refuse to be drawn into a bidding contest.

“I said that my ideal situation was to start the season in the Real Madrid first team and if not I would prefer to return to Liverpool,” he said in a statement yesterday. “The president understood me and said he would try to help me achieve this. If the transfer cannot be finalised in time I have agreed to go to Newcastle United but only on a one-year loan. I need to be playing regularly in World Cup year.”

It would not be the first time that Newcastle had acted as the catalyst for an England striker’s transfer. Their bid for Wayne Rooney last summer forced Manchester United to make their move for the then Everton forward 12 months earlier than they would have liked.

Frustrated by Owen’s insistence that he would consider a move to the North East only if a move to Liverpool fell through — and under pressure from the supporters because of a poor start to the season — Freddy Shepherd, the chairman, tried to force the issue with an offer beyond even Real’s highest expectations but advisers are insistent that he will not be forced into a permanent move to Tyneside, however much that may suit his present employers.

Despite repeated assertions from Rafael Benítez that a centre back and right winger are his priorities, the Liverpool manager knows that Owen would improve his side. He has already sold Milan Baros to Aston Villa to help to make room for Owen, 25, and the Spaniard is also willing to listen to offers for Djibril Cissé.

The Kop would certainly welcome back a player who scored 158 goals in 297 games in his first spell.

STELIOS MOVE PROVOKES FURY

Liverpool have opened discussions with Bolton Wanderers about the availability of Stelios Giannakopoulos, the Greece and Bolton midfield player. However, Phil Gartside, the Bolton chairman, has been angered by the move, which Liverpool made before Bolton’s game against Newcastle United last night. “Yet again I am disappointed that, on the eve of a Premiership match, a fellow Premiership club has gone public with their interest,” Gartside said. “It is morally wrong.”