Owen is joining Real Madrid, say Liverpool

Liverpool's England striker Michael Owen will move to Real Madrid for an undisclosed fee, the English Premier League club said on Friday.

"Michael will have a medical with Madrid before the deal is completed," said Liverpool coach Rafael Benitez.

The 24-year-old's contract at Liverpool was only due to run until the end of the coming season, when he would have been able to leave the Merseyside club on a free transfer.

"I was very happy with Michael and I wanted him to stay," added Benitez. "The problem was he only had a year left on his contract. Real Madrid started talking with his agent and in the end it was an impossible situation to control." Real Madrid's right-sided midfielder Antonio Nunez, who made 11 appearances last season and scored one goal, is joining Liverpool on a three-year contract as part of the deal.

Spain's Radio Marca said Owen is joining Real on a four-year deal with an option for an extra year, adding that he is not expected to earn quite as much as the other 'galacticos' but should pocket about five million euros ($6.13 million) a year.

British media had reported that Owen would be joining the nine-times European champions for eight million pounds ($14.65 million), He will link up with England captain David Beckham at the Bernabeu once the deal goes through.

Owen was left on the bench when Liverpool played Graz AK in their Champions League qualifier on Tuesday, fuelling speculation about a move to Spain, with Czech striker Milan Baros and new signing Djibril Cisse leading the team up front.

"I now have three strikers," said Benitez. "It's bad that Michael's gone but we have three very good forwards and I'll be looking for a solution in the future."

Arsenal and France captain Patrick Vieira, who had also been strongly linked with a move to Real, said earlier on Friday that he would be staying at the north London club.