Price must be right for Benitez

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez insists he has no regrets about failing to land Michael Owen.

The England striker joined Newcastle this week from Real Madrid in a £17m (€25m) transfer despite having talks with Liverpool about a return to Anfield.

Benitez also missed out this week on Portuguese midfielder Simao after Benfica raised their asking price but the Liverpool manager insists he will only sign players for the right price – and the Reds sold Owen for £8million only a year ago.

Speaking after a UEFA elite coaches forum, Benitez said: “You cannot control the market, you cannot control the players, you cannot control the clubs – you can try but we have done our best.

“We were thinking about the possibility of Michael Owen but at the end Newcastle offered a big amount of money and Real Madrid say they would prefer the money because they can buy [Seville defender] Sergio Ramos.

“We tried, we talked with Michael but at the end the money was more important for the clubs as Real Madrid can buy another player.”

Benitez is in no doubt that Owen will prove to be a good signing for Newcastle.

He added: “In my opinion Michael is a good player and he will score goals wherever he is. He has this opportunity to play regularly now and the priority for him is to be ready for the World Cup.

“He had a good season last year despite not starting a lot of games, but with a team such as Real Madrid – who are always attacking – you will always score goals because you will have a lot of opportunities.”

Benitez hopes French striker Djibril Cisse will now be able to settle down after speculation that he might have to be sold to fund signing Owen.

He said: “I’m sure he will be okay. We have talked about the rumours and he reacted by scoring two goals in the Super Cup final last week.

“He knows that he must work hard, try to score goals and try to be fit for the whole season.”