Everton FC boss David Moyes will be swayed by hard facts not gloss over Michael Owen

Where, then, do you imagine David Moyes stands on the subject of Owen's next club, now that the one time England striker has confirmed the worst kept secret in football - namely that he will leave Newcastle United when his contract expires on Tuesday?

Probably somewhere in the middle.

Like every other club in the Premier League, the glossy brochure that Owen's management company have compiled, cramming it with marketing buzz words like him being "global", "technical" and "instinctive", has a home somewhere at Goodison Park.

But did he need to give the go ahead to sending out what is basically a glorified begging letter? You see it smacks a little of desperation, the action of a man who is all hype and little substance, when nothing could be further from the truth.

Owen's achievements speak for themselves and if he wanted to send out a reminder, the only thing he needed to print was the fact he has scored 202 goals in his club career and another 40 at international level. They are statistics that should have managers drooling, leave defenders shaking and get creative midfielders dreaming of seeing their through balls turned into gold by a man who has yet to reach his 30th birthday.

With Everton in the market for a top quality striker, someone who will make a difference in the tightest of games, surely it is a 'no-brainer' and the first thing that should be done on Wednesday morning is set up talks over a move to Goodison?

That, though, is unlikely to be the case and it speaks volumes that only Phil Brown and Tony Pulis have registered an interest so far.

You see, there was a time when Moyes would have moved heaven and earth to sign Owen and four years ago, the disappointment he felt at not being able to compete for his signature when he left Real Madrid was enormous.

Yet now Moyes would think long and hard about whether to offer Owen a chance to revive a career that has hit the buffers spectacularly during what was an ill-fated spell on Tyneside.

His caution is understandable; Owen's fitness record since January 2006 has been awful, while he completely lost his form towards the end of last season, just when Newcastle needed him to show why they paid £16m for him - he failed to find the target after January 10.

What's more, with Louis Saha and James Vaughan in the ranks - no strangers to the treatment room - and Ayegbeni Yakubu recovering from an ruptured Achilles tendon, Moyes could not afford to bring someone in who might spend more time injured than playing.

His critics have said on numerous occasions that he has lost his desire and Father Time has caught up with him; that his heart belongs to the horse racing business he has set up at Manor House stables, just outside Malpas.

Certainly Owen will have questions to answer at whatever club he starts the new season and it is likely that a few managers in the division will feel the risks of taking him are just too great, given the money they would pay out.

That said, there will always be the nagging feeling that Owen might just come to life again and there is reason to believe Goodison could be the perfect stage to re-ignite the fire in a the boyhood Blue.

With a proper pre-season under his belt and settled team behind him, signing a hungry Owen might just turn out to be a masterstroke.

But one thing is certain - Moyes will only move if he believes it is the right thing for Everton to do, not because it says so in a glossy brochure.

Everton FC's Joleon Lescott can nip Manchester City transfer rumours in the bud

ANOTHER summer, another transfer saga; while Andrew Johnson's future dominated headlines 12 months ago, Joleon Lescott has taken centre stage this time.

Manchester City's relentless pursuit of the defender has been going on since last Christmas and it seems clear they are not going to take 'no' for answer, an attitude that could see them become a club with same popularity as Chelsea.

The approach they have adopted has been anything but clandestine yet there has never been an official approach to David Moyes and, because of this, Everton's manager has become increasingly annoyed about the stories that have appeared on the matter.

Moyes is not naive and obviously knows there is no smoke without fire, as it has been a saga that has been rumbling on and on and - unless clear, decisive action is taken - there is no sign of it stopping.

Everton have done all they can to nip it in the bud, letting it be known that Lescott is not for sale, while there has been no ambiguity on Moyes' behalf when he has said that he won't allow his best players to leave.

What, then, can be done? Simple. Lescott could put it all to bed with one emphatic statement that pledges his loyalty to the club that helped turn him into an England international - and gave him his shot at the big time.

Why would he want to leave a club that has just played in an FA Cup final and enjoyed back-to-back fifth place finishes to join a club whose last big day out was in 1981? Sometimes, though, the attraction of a club has nothing to do with the style they play.

And in Manchester City's case, it has everything to do with what they pay. We await, then, the next act in this drama.

Tee off with club legends at Formby Hall

FANCY teeing off with some Blues legends?

The Everton Foundation is holding a golf day at Formby Hall this coming Tuesday.

Entry for a team of four costs £300 and proceedings get underway at noon.

For more information, call 0151 530 5253.