Ex-Liverpool and Man Utd striker Michael Owen names his ‘most underrated’ teammate

Michael Owen believes his ‘most underrated teammate’ should be regarded as a Premier League legend but ‘never gets mentioned’.

Owen played for the likes of Liverpool, Real Madrid and Manchester United during his impressive 17-year professional career.

The legendary striker also established himself as one of England’s most prolific goalscorers, netting 40 goals in 89 appearances for the Three Lions.

Reflecting on a career that produced trophies in England and Spain and a host of individual awards – including the Ballon d’Or – Owen identified Liverpool hero Sami Hyypia as his ‘most underrated teammate’.

Hyypia spent a decade at Anfield following his £2.5m move from Dutch side Willem II, making 464 appearances for the Reds.

Regularly captaining the side, Hyypia helped Liverpool win a cup treble in 2001 and then played a key role in the club’s iconic Champions League win in 2005.

Asked who he regards as his ‘most underrated’ teammate, Owen told OLBG: ‘Sami Hyypia at Liverpool.

‘I just think he was exceptional and when I listen to people talking about all the great defenders of all time in the Premier League he never gets a mention.

‘He was exceptional, an unbelievable player. Little things that people maybe not pick up on but no he was very, very good and as underrated players go he would be my selection.’

Liverpool offered Hyypia a coaching role as his playing career was coming to an end and while he rejected the offer in favour of a move to Bayer Leverkusen, he expressed interest in returning to Anfield as a coach at a later date, such was his affection for the club.

Hyypia left the Premier League having twice being named in the PFA Team of the Year, while he was named Finland’s Footballer of the Year a staggering ten times during his entire career.

Fellow Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher, who regularly partnered Hyypia in defence, has previously argued that the Finnish centre-back is the club’s best Premier League signing.

‘I think sometimes we think of this team now [as the best] – and rightly so, they’ve done a lot more than the teams I played in – but if I think where Liverpool were in 1999, they were a team who were finishing sixth and seventh,” Carragher told Sky Sports in 2021.

‘They couldn’t come out of the Roy Evans era, they’d gone close to the title and it was fading away; Gerard Houllier comes in and that Liverpool team is known as a weak team, they got bullied.

‘[Hyypia] came in, he played for the club for 10 years, he was never injured. Liverpool went from becoming a soft touch to a team who were mentally and physically very strong, and he was a massive part of that.

‘The success we had over the next 10 years with Gerard Houllier and with Rafa Benitez was built on defence.

‘It wasn’t about being an exciting team going forward, scoring lots of goals. It was built on solidity, and that started with his signing.

‘The price tag, the never being injured, the 10 years’ service he gave and the trophies he was part of winning.

‘It was a toss-up between him and Mo Salah, he’s been top scorer, you think of what he’s won, it’s a tough one.

‘Virgil van Dijk came in and made Liverpool the Champions League [winners] – don’t forget Sami Hyypia won the Champions League.

‘The only thing that team, or Sami Hyypia, didn’t win was the league. They won FA Cups, League Cups and UEFA Cups as well, and it was a 10-year period.

‘Sami’s not a better player than Virgil van Dijk, but Virgil van Dijk was a world-record transfer, so you’re expecting that impact.

‘Sami Hyypia came in and no one had heard of him, no one had seen him play. The impact he had at Liverpool was just instrumental.’

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