MICHAEL OWEN AT ODDS-ON FOR MANCHESTER UNITED TRANSFER

In a move that has seemingly come out of nowhere, Sky Bet has seem a dramatic amount of movement in their betting market for Michael Owen and it could be suspected that a free transfer by the England International to the Premier League Champions could be imminent.

With United's prospects of signing Karim Benzema collapsing dramatically yesterday in another Real Madrid-inspired transfer heist, Sir Alex Ferguson is reportedly running out of options with Valencia forward David Villa claiming he's not interested in a move to England.

Enter: Michael Owen.

Headlining on Football365 this morning was a story titled "Owen For Old Trafford?" claiming that Sky Bet had reported Owens odds of 20/1 rapidly shrinking to a mere 7/4. In the time that's passed since the publishing of that article, his price has dropped again and he is now trading at a mere 4/7. Clearly, something is happening and Michael Owen looks to be Old Trafford-bound. The only question remains, is this happening 10 years too late?

Michael Owen's Manchester United odds are quite slim, with Everton being the second-placed squad at 9/2. Hull City and Aston Villa are both listed at 12/1 with his old club Liverpool carrying a 14/1 price. Newcastle and striker-heavy Manchester City both trade at 16/1.

David Villa is 20/1 to join Wayne Rooney at Manchester United with Barcelona listed at evens to garner Villa's signature. Franck Ribery is now odds-on to move to Real Madrid with a 1/2 price miles ahead of United's odds at 11/1. Ruud van Nistelrooy is at 10/1 to move back to Manchester United with Peter Crouch carrying a 25/1 price to line up next season as a Red Devil.