A JUBILANT Freddy Shepherd last night hailed the arrival of his "Geordio Galactico" and insisted Newcastle were the only club brave enough to take on Premiership champions Chelsea.

The Magpies' chairman always claimed he would do everything possible to bring Michael Owen to Tyneside and, yesterday, the fruit of his labours was paraded in front of 15,000 ecstatic fans.

While the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal chose to tread carefully when Owen first voiced his unease at Real Madrid, Shepherd opted to slap a club record £16m bid on to the bargaining table at the Bernabeu.

The same tactic failed to land Wayne Rooney 12 months ago, with the striker moving to Old Trafford rather than St James' Park.

But, after capturing England's fourth most successful striker of all time, Shepherd defended his aggressive approach to transfer dealings.

And, with Chelsea having splashed the cash again this summer, he also claimed Newcastle were the only club willing to take on Roman Abramovich at his own game.

"We can be accused of many things," said Shepherd, who had been feeling the fans' wrath as the Owen deal appeared to be stalling last week. "But we can never be accused of not having a shot. We had a shot and this one came off.

"Geordies are the type of people who stick at it. We're not daunted - we get stuck in. I'll take you back to Rooney. I never saw any other club or chairman throwing their hat into the ring for him.

"We were the only ones who had the balls to do it. I didn't see the rest of them jumping in and having a go.

"I'm not being disrespectful to anyone but I think we've done the Premier League proud with the signing of Michael Owen. We've done the league a good turn by proving that not everything is heading into London.

"I know Chelsea are a world apart from us but this shows that, if the rest of the clubs want to go for players who are top-notch, they shouldn't be put off by them.

"They shouldn't think 'Ah well, Chelsea are going to get everything'. It doesn't work like that."

The multi-million pound purchase of Owen has followed hot on the heels of similarly big-money bids for Scott Parker, Emre and Albert Luque.

Last night's £1.5m capture of Nolberto Solano took Newcastle's summer spending to a cool £37.8m - not bad for a club who have not even made the UEFA Cup this term.

It was also revealed yesterday that Newcastle were planning a staggering £25.9m bid for Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres had their attempts to sign Owen fallen through.

The claim was made by agent Francis Martin, who said Newcastle were ready to splash out the whole fee in one immediate instalment, but added Atletico would have rejected their advances.

A raft of departures have helped to balance the books - last summer's sale of Jonathan Woodgate also made a significant impression on the balance sheet - but critics have still claimed that Owen's purchase represents a significant gamble given United's lowly league position.

Shepherd begs to differ and, citing Alan Shearer's price tag as an example, argues that Owen has been a bargain buy.

"I think it's fantastic value," he said. "We paid £15m for Shearer in 1996 and, if someone had said we would be paying just seven per cent more for a guy who can fill his boots nine years later, I'd have said 'Hang on, I'll be on for that one'.

"We are happy with the price we paid - we think it's a fair price. Look at the money we received for Jonathan (£13.4m). In a way, we've not been far away from swapping Jonathan for Owen."

As well as helping to provide the funds for the Owen deal, Woodgate's recent departure to Real Madrid also created an air of co-operation that turned the dream into a reality.

"We've got a close relationship with Madrid," added Shepherd. "We went in with a bid four or five weeks ago. We put the offer on the table and left it there. We didn't have to take it up or down and, with the relationship we've got, Madrid said 'We've got a deal subject to the player. Forget any other club'.

"I've got to thank Madrid for that. They stuck by the offer and accepted that bid."

Souness' courting of Owen began even earlier, with the Magpies' manager first making contact with his number one transfer target last year. The Scot always knew Liverpool would provide stiff competition for the 25-year-old's signature but was confident that Newcastle's vision of the future would ultimately win him round.

"I saw the way things were panning out in Spain and I have to admit I was hoping he didn't get into the (Real Madrid) team," he said.

"I knew there was an obvious lure with Liverpool - his mates are there, his house is there, his family are there. His wife is pregnant and all that was working against us. "But I knew that he would be loved and welcomed here."

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