Michael Owen says player Arsenal signed for £11m terrified him as much as Ronaldo

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Michael Owen has admitted that only two players made him feel like he wasn’t truly world class, and one of those played for Arsenal.

Prime Michael Owen was a force to be reckoned with, constantly terrifying opponents with his pace and finishing.

Owen also had the confidence to match his qualities at the time and, speaking to Rio Ferdinand, said he saw himself as the best striker in the world.

However, Owen also said there were two centre-forwards in the same era that effectively made him feel like he wasn’t quite the very best.

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Michael Owen says only Ronaldo Nazario and Thierry Henry made him feel like he wasn’t the best

Owen was the latest guest on Rio Ferdinand Presents as he talked about his eventful career in the game.

The former England striker revealed that his own wife calls him “the most delusional man in the world” before saying delusion is actually an “important thing”.

And the only two strikers who made Owen doubt himself were Ronaldo Nazario – aka R9 – and Arsenal legend Thierry Henry.

“If you always think you’re better than you are, you will catch up with that,” said Owen.

“You know, I could name so many players that were probably very, very average as kids. And now they’re household names, record breakers.

“They didn’t have skill, didn’t have pace, didn’t have anything but sheer bloody mindedness to get to the top.

“But there’s only two there’s only two players I’ve ever seen that made me think, ‘oh no’.

“When I was growing up at like 15, 16 and watching R9, I was thinking, ‘oh no’. I think I’m as good as it gets, I think I’m going to be world-class… then I watch him.

“And the other person is Thierry Henry. When he came to the Premier League, I thought ‘I’m never going to win another Golden Boot again’. And I was right.”

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Why Viktor Gyokeres must remember how Thierry Henry began life at Arsenal

Viktor Gyokeres joined Arsenal to much fanfare this summer, but he’s not exactly hit the ground running in North London.

However, neither did Henry when he made his £11million move from Juventus in the summer of 1999.

The Frenchman did not find the back of the net until nine games into his Arsenal career, when he scored a brace against Derby County.

Indeed, even the Arsenal website acknowledged that, when Henry came off the bench for his debut against Leicester City, he ‘threatened the North Bank regulars with his scattergun shooting’.

Paul Merson recently spoke about the slow starts Henry and Dennis Bergkamp made at Arsenal after Gyokeres’ mixed debut away at Manchester United.