Michael Owen has signed with Stoke City (BBC)
The transfer window for clubs in England officially ended last Friday, but there were still a couple bits of business to be done. The end of the window did not exclude a club from signing an out of contract player, nor did it prohibit teams from selling to a club where the window is still open in that country. Both of those things have taken place in the last couple of days.
The headline grabbing news has to do with former England/Liverpool and Newcastle great Michael Owen. Owen was on a free transfer after ending his time with Manchester United, and waited to see if a club would pick him up in the transfer window. When that didn't materialize, speculation became rampant that he might return to Liverpool, who famously missed out on US International Clint Dempsey on deadline day.
In the end, Owen penned a one year deal with Stoke City. He revealed on twitter that talks with Stoke had been ongoing, so the move to Potters wasn't a surprise. The former star striker couldn't get his career back off the ground in the three injury riddled seasons at Manchester United. He made only three appearances last year, and hasn't played in a competitive match since last November.
Chelsea were also back in the headlines just a couple of days after being defeated by Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup. They sold midfielder Raul Meireles to Fenerbache, who in turn signed him on a four year deal. Rumor has it that the transfer fee was around 8 million pounds.
Meireles was said to be unhappy at Chelsea last year after Andre Villas-Boas, whom he had worked with at Porto, was sacked by the club. After arriving in Turkey, he stated that former Liverpool teammate Dirk Kuyt had been instrumental in convincing him to come to Istanbul.
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