Owen misery, while Dyer deal stalls

As the 27-year-old's misery was revealed, club and England team-mate Kieron Dyer was returning north with his transfer to West Ham in danger of collapse.

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England have two difficult Euro 2008 qualifiers at Wembley next month — against Israel on September 8 and Russia four days later — and Owen is unlikely to be anywhere near match fit.

This will be a huge blow to coach Steve McClaren, who will be without the suspended Peter Crouch for the Israel tie. He was also anxious to have Owen for the friendly against Germany on August 22.

Newcastle fear the striker, who missed all but three of their games last season, could be out for up to a month after failing to recover from the injury which has ruined his pre-season.

Allardyce had hoped to see Owen return at Hull in midweek but he is refusing to risk him for the first game of the season at Bolton next Saturday.

Allardyce said: 'It doesn't look as encouraging as we first thought. The tear in the muscle hasn't healed as quickly as we would like, so there's no point in making any rash decisions just to get him fit for the start of the season.

'It's about getting him 100 per cent for playing matches on a regular basis. That's why it has been more disappointing for him and for me that he's missed pre-season games more than training. He's done enough training to last him a lifetime.'

However, Allardyce has six strikers to choose from for tomorrow's friendly with Sampdoria after completing the £6million signing of Alan Smith from Manchester United.

Dyer, who is desperate to move south to be closer to his family, last night found his hopes of joining West Ham fading when Newcastle's new owner Mike Ashley bumped up the price from £5m to £7m.

He was angry at the way the Hammers approached the midfielder and accused them of unsettling the 28-year-old before they were given permission to speak to him, which West Ham deny.

Ashley told the Hammers they would have to pay £7m, rising to £8m if the east London club qualified for Europe, to secure the deal.

There is a feeling on Tyneside that billionaire businessman Ashley is flexing his muscles in one of the first major transfers since he took control.