Tommy Smith: 'Michael Owen is no Liverpool legend'

Tommy Smith believes that Michael Owen should not be considered a legend at Liverpool.

The Stoke City striker, who played for the Reds from 1997 until 2004, announced his decision to retire at the end of the campaign this week.

Owen won two league cups, the UEFA Cup and the FA Cup in a decorated career at Anfield, but Smith, who won two European Cups with the Reds, thinks that the former England forward should not be considered one of the club's greats.

"He could have easily have easily become an Anfield legend but he chose to leave [for Real Madrid] in 2004 and that was that," Smith wrote in his Liverpool Echo column.

"[What was] even harder for the fans who once worshipped him to swallow was the sight of him running round in a Manchester United shirt more recently. Maybe his heart wasn't in it that much."

Owen netted 40 goals in 89 games for the England national team and scored over 100 Premier League goals for the Reds.