Former Liverpool, Manchester United and Newcastle striker Michael Owen has picked his greatest Premier League starting XI, which features a number of players from his former clubs.
Owen played alongside a few of the stars that make up his greatest team, either with the Red Devils, Reds, Magpies or at international level with England.
Most of the names he picks out are well into retirement, with just one current player making his starting XI, although another makes it onto his three-man substitutes’ bench.
Owen was speaking to the Premier League as he picked his dream team, which started with Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel in goal.
A back four of Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry and Ashley Cole made up an all-English defence for Owen.
He opted for a 4-3-3 formation, which saw a midfield trio of Steven Gerrard, Patrick Vieira and Paul Scholes behind a front three of Cristiano Ronaldo, Alan Shearer and Thierry Henry.
Three men also got a mention on the bench, with Owen giving a nod to Yaya Toure, Wayne Rooney and Kevin De Bruyne.
Virgil van Dijk got a mention from Owen, nearly getting into the team for being ‘off the scale how good he is’ but the Englishman says the Dutchman has just not been playing in the Premier League long enough to make the cut.
There are obviously plenty of top players to miss out on the team, with the likes of Frank Lampard, Petr Cech, Sergio Aguero, Didier Drogba and Mo Salah all falling short.
