Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has revealed he considered signing Michael Owen this summer, but came to the conclusion that he would not command a regular first-team place.

The 29-year-old spent eight successful seasons at Anfield at the start of his career, scoring 158 goals in all competitions.

However that has not stopped the striker joining the Reds’ fiercest rivals Manchester United on a free transfer from Newcastle this summer.

Benitez told The People: “We had contact with different people and were analysing the situation.

“But if you want to play Torres and Gerrard there is not always a lot of space for other players.

“When I brought back Robbie Fowler it was a different situation. We were looking for someone who could understand his role clearly and he was a good finisher.

“But we have a World Cup coming up and all the top players want to play. In his position it would be hard for Owen to play every week at Liverpool.”

The Spaniard is also confident he already has enough squad depth at his disposal to cope with any injuries to his preferred front pairing.

“We are confident in (Dirk) Kuyt, (Ryan) Babel, (David) Ngog and (Andriy) Voronin for next season. We have players with quality,” he added.

“People say I might need another striker but I remember signing Robbie Keane and everyone was saying good things.

“Then after I sold Robbie people were saying I was short of strikers but we scored more goals than anyone in the Premier League.”

Inter Milan’s Sweden international striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has claimed Chelsea want to sign him.

Ibrahimovic, whose Inter coach Jose Mourinho used to be in charge at Stamford Bridge, has revealed that money will not be the main motivating factor in any move after being linked with a £60million switch to the Barclays Premier League.

Ibrahimovic said: “I am fully aware that Chelsea want to sign me and, of course, it is very flattering. They are one of the biggest teams in Europe and the Premier League is one of the best leagues in the world.

“Money is not the most important thing, I will base my decision on what’s good for me, what suits me.”

He told the News of the World: “Money is not the most important thing. I will base my decision on what’s good for me, what suits me.

“It is about asking: will I still be able to be special in the league that I am going to, to the team that I am going to?

“Are my qualities right for the Premier League or not?”

John Terry reportedly told Roman Abramovich that he wants to talk to Manchester City about a possible £50m move.

The Chelsea captain met with the club’s Russian owner on Saturday afternoon and - according to reports in several Sunday papers - told him that he wants the chance to discuss a move to the world’s richest club.

The Sunday Times reports that Terry was told that the club would not match City’s offer of £250,000 a week, and that he would have to hand in a transfer request to engineer a move north.

Abramovich is allegedly willing to make Terry the highest-paid player at the club but will not pay him significantly more than current high earner Frank Lampard.

City apparently remain confident that they will sign Terry, with a £5m signing-on fee sweetening the deal, according to the News of the World.

They also suggest that any money recouped from the sale of Terry would be ploughed into a move for AC Milan’s Alexandre Pato.