Cash key to Owen's switch

The England coach was the victim of an undercover News of the World reporter, who questioned the striker's £16m move from Real Madrid to Newcastle.

According to the Swede, Owen is far from happy with life in the North-East, and the reasons for the move were purely financial.

Eriksson was quoted as saying: "I talked to Michael Owen and said 'you are happy?'

"He said 'not really with the club, but economically I never earned that money in my life'. So they paid the salary more than Real Madrid did.

"He said 'they gave me a house, they gave me a car, it's incredible'. They had to do it because in any other way he wouldn't have gone there."

Chairman Freddy Shepherd has moved quickly to dismiss the claims and stressed Owen was enjoying his career with the Magpies.

Shepherd said: ''We have spoken with the player and he has confirmed he is happy at Newcastle United.''

The news could hasten the arrival of striker Nicolas Anelka to Tyneside, with the former Arsenal and Manchester City man keen to make the switch back to the Premiership.

Souness wants to bring the former France international to the Magpies, and the admiration appears to be mutual.

''I don't want to waste my time any more in the Turkish Championship,'' Anelka said.

''The only trouble is that they don't want to sell me for nothing. I want to get back into the Premiership and I would like that club to be Newcastle United.''

However, any deal is likely to be held over until the summer with Souness admitting there is nothing in his transfer kitty.

"We've spent big money in the summer," said the Magpies boss who shelled out £32m on Owen, Albert Luque and Scott Parker. "There's a limit to what anybody can spend.

"I've been told that I've got no money and I will continue to work with what we've got. It's hard on us and on my players.

"I wouldn't challenge anybody to come in and do a better job (at Newcastle). I'm long past challenging people."

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