While the latter part of his career didn't play out as he — or certainly anyone else for that matter — expected, Michael Owen is still one of the most gifted goalscorers in English football history. He burst onto the scene as a teenager and took to men's football seamlessly. He was scoring goals for fun right out of the gate with Liverpool and by the time he was 19, he'd already won the Premier League's Golden Boot award on two occasions.
As a result, he knows a thing or two about incredible players and recently revealed who he thought was the greatest footballer to ever play in the Premier League. He even admitted that despite his strong start to life in the division, he feared the worst once this star arrived and that star was Thierry Henry.
Thierry Henry Related
Thierry Henry Claimed England Legend Was the Best Player in Premier League History
He snubbed the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah.
Owen Thinks Henry is the Greatest Premier League Player Ever
He was worried about the star
Thierry Henry Arsenal
Following his move to Arsenal in 1999, Henry became a world-class player and shone in North London. The transition from playing out on the wing to a more central role paid off and then some. He became a gifted finisher and led the Gunners to levels of success that the club hadn't seen in some time.
During his time in England, Henry won a handful of trophies, including two Premier League titles, and was crucial to Arsenal going undefeated throughout the 2003/04 league campaign. He left in 2007, but not before scoring 228 goals in 377 games. He's gone down as an Arsenal icon and was a bigger hit than anyone could have imagined.
Almost anyone, anyway. Owen recently revealed that he thought the Frenchman was the greatest player in Premier League history and he was worried about the star's arrival and what it meant for his own career. During an interview with talkSPORT, he said:
"I got into the Premier League at 17 and won the Golden Boot and then won it again at 18. Then Thierry Henry came over, and I looked at him and thought ‘I’m never going to win one of those again’. Those players were just wow, how do you compete?"
Following his comments, the Englishman was asked whether he thought Henry was the greatest Premier League player of all time and he simply said: "Yes - Thierry Henry."
There aren't many who will disagree with that assessment either. Henry might not be the all-time leading goalscorer in Premier League history, but his legacy in the division during his eight-year stay is unmatched even to this day.
All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt and accurate as of 07/06/2025