Newcastle legend Alan Shearer is confident Magpies
striker Michael Owen will still be at St James' Park at the start
of next season.
Owen has been linked with a move away from Newcastle after it
emerged he had a buy-out clause inserted into his Magpies
contract.
And despite all the speculation, Owen has refused to say whether he
will still be a Newcastle player by the start of the new
season.
However, Shearer - who played a big part in persuading Owen to join
Newcastle from Real Madrid two summers ago - believes that he and
Mark Viduka can form a tremendous partnership next season for Sam
Allardyce.
Shearer told the Newcastle Evening Chronicle: "I am sure there are
lots of people who want to ask me whether I think Michael Owen will
be at Newcastle next season.
"To be honest, I don't think anyone would be prepared to pay
£10million or £11million for him until they have seen him play for
five or six months.
"So if anyone says to me 'will he be here next season' I would have
to say yes, I think he will be.
"And I also think him playing up front with Mark Viduka will be a
great partnership for United.
"Viduka is great at holding the ball up and we all know how great
Michael is at scoring goals.
"So I don't think there will be many better partnerships out there
in the Premiership next season than the one at St James' Park."
