Newcastle still in hunt for Owen

Newcastle manager Graeme Souness says the club still has a good chance of signing Real Madrid and England striker Michael Owen.

"Without exciting the fans too much, I think there is a good chance; we are still in there," Souness told reporters on Friday.

"We are targeting, and have been targeting, several players. The Michael Owen situation, we know everything about Michael's situation -- he is a target. He is a top player but we also have other targets.

"We are targeting some big players and big players are expensive and their clubs do not want to sell them but we already have some outstanding players here at Newcastle.

"If I was a gambling man, which I am not, I would bet that we would have someone new in before the transfer window closes."

Newcastle said on Monday they had spoken to Real Madrid about Owen, one of two English Premier League clubs the Spanish giants said had approached them about the striker.

Manchester United denied being the other and Owen's former club Liverpool and Arsenal have already passed on the 25-year-old.

Real director of football Arrigo Sacchi said on Wednesday the club hoped Owen would stay.

Despite a good first season in Spain after his 8.0 million pound ($14.53 million) move from Liverpool, the signing of Brazilian forwards Robinho and Julio Baptista have left Owen fifth in the pecking order at the Bernabeu.

Newcastle are thought to be at a disadvantage when trying to sign Owen because after losing to Deportivo Coruna in the Intertoto Cup earlier this month, they cannot offer him European football this season.