If there is to be a role for Michael Owen at the World Cup finals, it can only be peripheral. Fabio Capello has made clear that he will be deemed eligible for England only when his fitness is proved — and the heavily incentivised terms of his Manchester United contract suggest that even Sir Alex Ferguson doubts that will ever be the case.

While United may feel they can afford to take a chance, knowing from experience with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer that a crock can still spring from the bench to win big matches, Capello has less margin for error and must weigh the striker’s history.

Remember the World Cup finals of 2006: after being assured by Owen and Sven-Göran Eriksson that his fitness was better than ever, we saw him play for less than two hours over three matches before leaving the tournament on a stretcher. Any England manager working on the assumption that Owen’s condition will be any more reliable next summer would be a fool.

Some will point out that Capello has shown keen interest in Ledley King, but there is a difference. The evidence of the Tottenham Hotspur centre back is that he can usually be patched up to do an exceptional job for 90 minutes and therefore would be invaluable in exceptional circumstances, such as a sudden injury to Rio Ferdinand or John Terry.

Owen, especially given the explosive nature of his position, is a sudden snap or strain waiting to happen. This is the sensible view for now. It could change should Owen put together a dozen performances for United. He would still not be worth a place in a first-choice England team while Emile Heskey’s own physique lasts, because the linking of Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard behind the big centre forward is a reason to believe that England can prosper in South Africa.

But Owen could be an exciting option on the bench. I doubt if even Ferguson, with Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov to accommodate, envisages much more than that.

So why should Capello?