I won the Ballon d'Or with Liverpool but one trophy would have meant a lot more

Owen says he would trade his 2001 Ballon d'Or for a Champions League medal with Liverpool, which he missed by leaving for Real Madrid before their 2005 Istanbul triumph.

Michael Owen has reflected on his career achievements, suggesting he would swap his Ballon d'Or trophy for a Champions League winners' medal with Liverpool. Owen won the prestigious individual award in 2001 at age 22, following an extraordinary season in which Liverpool lifted the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup. He also scored a hat-trick in England's 5-1 World Cup qualifying win over Germany that year.

However, Owen left for Real Madrid in 2004 and missed Liverpool's iconic 2004/05 Champions League final victory in Istanbul, when the Reds came back from 3-0 down against AC Milan to win on penalties. When asked if he would hypothetically swap his Ballon d'Or for one more year at Liverpool to win that trophy, Owen leaned towards team success: "Winning the Ballon d'Or, it's not like a memory is it, it's just a title in your name. But it doesn't give you that moment that you live for, whereas being involved in Istanbul would have."

Owen remained the last Englishman to win the Ballon d'Or until Harry Kane recently claimed the award. He spent one season in La Liga before moving to Newcastle, where injuries plagued his career across four seasons, with further fitness issues at Manchester United and Stoke City before retiring in 2013.