Owen hopes to seal Liverpool future before new season

Michael Owen said that Liverpool was in his blood and he hoped to seal his future at Anfield with a new contract before the start of the new Premier League season

Michael Owen said that Liverpool was in his blood and he hoped to seal his future at Anfield with a new contract before the start of the new Premier League season.

Owen, who flew into Canada with his teammates for a pre-season clash Friday with European champions FC Porto, has been talking to Liverpool brass for months on a new deal.

He hinted he had been waiting for evidence that the fallen giants of English football were serious about a return to the top after a lacklustre season last year which cost former boss Gerard Houllier his job.

"No one wants everything to drag on and we need to sort something out soon," Owen said, seated alongside new Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez.

"I have been at this club since I was 11, Liverpool is in my blood."

But Owen hinted that changes at Anfield may have swayed his decision to stay on.

"Everyone in football is very ambitious, and wants to win the big prizes ... last year we were quite far away from winning the big prizes."

Asked whether he would ink a new deal before the season, perhaps ahead of Liverpool's crucial champions league qualifier on August 11, Owen said, "I hope so."

Owen is being asked by the club to sign a two-year extension to the one year he has on his current contract.

As Liverpool jetted into Toronto, grounds crews battled to get the pitch for Friday's game ready, inside the Skydome, a vast concrete bowl with 50,000 seats which normally hosts Toronto Blue Jays baseball games.

As soon as the Jays wound up their game against the New York Yankees Wednesday night, crews ripped up the plastic artificial turf, and began to lay 110,000 square feet (33,528 square metres) of freshly cut sod on the Skydome's concrete floor.

Such a feat was first performed in the run up to the 1994 World Cup in the United States. Grass pitches have been installed in other outdoor stadia on top of synthetic American Football pitches.

Ground crews in Toronto were helped by the Skydome's retractable roof, which can be opened to let nourishing sunshine in, but closed to keep out rain, which could swamp the concrete holding the flattened turf.

"One touch of rain on this field, the soil would just turn to snot .. it would be complete grease," said Scott Clarke, of Clarke companies which is installing the grass.

Liverpool's game with Porto is part of the ChampionsWorld Series, which matches top European clubs in a preseason tournament in seven North American cities.

On Saturday, Scottish champions Celtic play AS Roma, also in the Skydome.