Michael Owen's move to Manchester United has shocked many fans and pundits

Owen, who is leaving the recently-relegated 降级 Newcastle United, will help plug the gaping hole 弥补不足 left by the departure from Old Trafford of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez.

A World-class Forward  Michael is a world-class forward with a proven goal scoring record at the highest level.   Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United Manager

Owen is known for being one of the most gifted 有才华的 English strikers of his generation; his lightning speed, flair 天资 and needlepoint accuracy 极度精确 helped his first club Liverpool win the treble 三连冠 （欧洲杯，足总杯，足球联赛） in 2001. That same year Owen won the coveted 梦寐以求的 European Footballer of the Year Award.

In total, Owen scored 158 goals in 297 games for Liverpool and 40 goals in 89 appearances for England.

So why are some commentators describing Sir Alex Ferguson's latest purchase as a gamble 打赌?

The reason is that Owen's career has been blighted 被缠绕 by injury. The 29-year-old player has had recurrent 反反复复 hamstring 腿筋，腿腱韧带 problems since 1999, but it doesn't stop there.

In 2005, after a single season at Real Madrid, Owen moved to Newcastle United. A thigh injury and then a broken metatarsal 跖骨骨折 meant that Owen was unable to play for almost the entire season.

Then in the 2006 World Cup, Owen sustained a serious injury 受了重伤 in the first minute of a group match against Sweden. The injury kept him off the pitch until April 2007.

Since then, the unlucky player has suffered with thigh, calf 小腿 and ankle 足踝 injuries, a hernia 疝气 and a bout of mumps 腮腺炎. Despite all this, Owen says he doesn't feel he is particularly injury-prone 易受伤的.

When he has made it onto the pitch, his recent form has lacked the panache 威风 of his early days. He hasn't scored since January and has been more or less dropped from the England squad. Until this week, there was a growing feeling that his best days were behind him.

This was a perception 印象 that Owen's agent tried to combat by producing a 32-page glossy brochure 彩图介绍 about the star, which was sent round the Premier League managers this summer.

The Injury Scenario  I just question the injury scenario... I need a striker that's going to be available for 30 games next season. That's not happened for Michael over the last four years.   Sam Allardyce, Blackburn Rovers Manager

Many were unconvinced by what they read. Sam Allardyce ruled out 排除了 a transfer to his club, Blackburn Rovers, saying he was worried about a scenario 情形 in which Owen sustains another injury.

But Ferguson is known for following his instincts 跟着直觉走 with transfers. He is also known to have followed Owen's career closely. He tried to sign the player while he was a teenager and sources close to 知情人士 Sir Alex say that he has always seen him as the one that got away 漏掉的，指以前一直没有机会和欧文签约.

But if Ferguson has a good memory, so do Manchester United's fans. It may take them a little time to 'forgive' Owen for his years with their rivals, Liverpool FC.

Out of the Blue  Out of the blue Sir Alex phoned me on Wednesday afternoon, invited me to have breakfast with him next morning during which he told me that he wanted to sign me... I agreed without a moment's thought. This is a fantastic opportunity for me and I intend to seize it with both hands.   Michael Owen

For his part, Owen admitted that the transfer offer was unexpected, saying it came "out of the blue". But he said he was very excited about the move, saying he would seize 抓住 the opportunity "with both hands".

Owen clearly intends Old Trafford to be the backdrop 背景 to his comeback 重振雄风. It will also provide an opportunity to rebuild a rapport 默契 with fellow striker Wayne Rooney. If the partnership works, Owen might just find himself back in the national squad in time for next year's World Cup.

But of course that will only happen if his run of injuries has finally come to an end.