Shepherd hands ultimatum to Owen

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The Magpies chairman is furious at reports linking the club's record £17million signing with a move away from St James' Park and has urged him to publicly declare his commitment to the cause.

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Comeback: Owen has only recently returned from a long spell out through injury

The injury-plagued England striker has played just 13 senior games for Newcastle since his 2005 transfer and Shepherd believes he owes them some loyalty.

The St James' Park supremo has warned those who purport to speak on behalf of the 27-year-old to stop trying to "flog Owen from under our feet".

Responding to reports he could be available for as little as £9million, Shepherd said in the Daily Express: "These suggestions will not impress our fans after what has happened in the last couple of years.

"This report was a very thinly-disguised attempt to flog Owen from under our feet, sourced very close to the player or those who look after him. The information must have come from there, not from our club."

Shepherd issued Owen with an ultimatum, in which he claims none of the Barclays Premiership's 'big four' would want to buy him.

He said: "I'm telling Michael he has two choices: he either comes out and tells our fans, who have taken him to their hearts, that he is happy here - or I tell him that not one of the big four clubs, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool are interested in him. Because that's the case.

"The loyalty this club has shown him over the last two years, when he had injury problems in his first season and had missed virtually all of this season, deserves something in return.

"He has had a really serious injury and no-one, least of all one of the biggest clubs, is likely to take a risk at this stage.

"He has to prove to everyone, himself and Newcastle United included, that he is fully recovered and not about to break down again."

Shepherd also played down suggestions Sven-Goran Eriksson is a candidate for the Newcastle manager's vacancy.

Eriksson's agent Athole Still has claimed the former England boss had the support of 51% of Geordies.

Shepherd said: "Where he gets that figure from, I can't imagine. I think 51% of Geordies might like the idea of Sven's girlfriend Nancy Dell'Olio on the Newcastle Quayside."