Instead an injury to Robbie Fowler meant that Owen was thrown in at the deep end and was basically a regular in the side straightaway. He didn't disappoint. By the new year Fowler had returned to fitness, but to partner Owen rather than replace him. The picture shows Owen delicately chipping Newcastle United keeper Shaka Hislop to break the deadlock in extra-time of a league cup quarter-final at St James' Park (Liverpool went on to win the game 2-0 with Fowler grabbing the other goal) and a feature of his game seemed to be a knack of scoring goals when they were needed, rather than beating an enemy in retreat. By that point such was his progress he had already trained with the England squad, and in February he made his full international debut, becoming the youngest player to represent England in the whole of the 20th century.

By the end of the season he had claimed 23 goals, the 18 he racked up in the league enough to earn him the golden boot, and there was a clamour for Glenn Hoddle to include him in the squad going to the World Cup in France that summer. Hoddle brought him and left him on the bench for the first two games, but Owen scored after being introduced against Romania and then that goal against Argentina earned him worldwide fame.

Given that his first full season in football was so explosive, it seems inevitable that people sometimes still question whether he has fulfilled his potential (Hoddle once, ludicrously, wondered aloud whether or not Owen was a natural goalscorer).

But despite a career that has been blighted by a succession of injuries ranging from niggling to career-threatening, his career average is still better than a goal every other game, and while some have claimed that his season with Real Madrid was an abject failure, he finished the season with the best goals per minutes played ratio in La Liga.

Newcastle will be hoping his planned return in the new year can help them start looking upwards, rather than nervously down at the relegation candidates beneath them.