Michael Owen

Liverpool: Liverpool’s England striker Michael Owen will move to Real Madrid for an undisclosed fee, the English Premier League club said on Friday.

“Michael will have a medical with Madrid before the deal is completed,” said Liverpool coach Rafael Benitez.

The 24-year-old’s contract at Liverpool was only due to run until the end of the coming season, when he would have been able to leave the Merseyside club on a free transfer.

“I was very happy with Michael and I wanted him to stay,” added Benitez. “The problem was he only had a year left on his contract. Real Madrid started talking with his agent and in the end it was an impossible situation to control.”

Spain’s Radio Marca said Owen is joining Real on a four-year deal with an option for an extra year, adding that he is not expected to earn quite as much as the other ‘galacticos’ but should pocket about five million euros ($6.13 million) a year.

However, Arsenal and France captain Patrick Vieira, who had also been strongly linked with a move to Real, said earlier on Friday that he would be staying at the north London club.

“I am staying at the club,” Vieira told the Arsenal website on Friday.