The fact Owen was a free agent after the expirt of his Newcastle United, and that he is believed to have agreed a basic salary with pay-as-you play bonuses, means the Old Trafford boss has nothing to lose.

And Sir Alex Ferguson, who lost out to Real Madrid in the race to sign Lyon striker Karim Benzema, can see through the injury woes which have robbed Owen of what should have been the prime years of his career.

He believes there is still plenty to come from a player who scored 158 goals in 297 matches for Liverpool and struck 40 times in 89 England internationals.

"Michael is a world-class forward with a proven goalscoring record at the highest level and that has never been in question," said the United boss.

"Coming to Manchester United with the expectations that we have is something that Michael will relish."

Owen will hope moving to United, with the promise of Champions League football again, will help his bid to force his way back into Fabio Capello's England squad.

That is particularly important with a World Cup - likely to be Owen's last major tournament - looming next summer.

He no doubt thinks he will be helped by regularly playing alongside Capello's first-choice forward Wayne Rooney at United.

If he remains injury-free he should still be able to score goals considering the amount of creativity United have on the field - one factor he desperately lacked during his disappointing spell at Newcastle.

Owen may not replace the sheer number of goals of Cristiano Ronaldo, whom Ferguson sold to Madrid for a world-record £80m, or the work-rate of Carlos Tevez, who appears on the verge of a move to Manchester City after his lease agreement ran out at Old Trafford, but he has the knack of scoring at important times.

It is that pedigree which Ferguson hopes will shine through next season.