Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard wants Michael Owen to return to Anfield after the former Reds striker failed to secure a return after leaving Real Madrid last year.

England striker Owen, who quit Liverpool to join Real in August 2004, joined Newcastle a year later in a £17million deal. The 26-year-old had made no secret of his desire to return to Anfield before moving to St James’s Park.

"I know Michael Owen wanted to come here," Gerrard told the Sunday Times. "I have got a good enough relationship with him to know that.

"That he didn’t was down to Liverpool not making it happen, rather than Michael not wanting to come."

Liverpool have scored only eight times in their past 13 matches, with their strikers managing just two goals this year.

Gerrard led Liverpool to their fifth European Cup success last season, but the club bowed out of the Champions League to Benfica on Wednesday, losing 3-0 on aggregate.

"It’s difficult for me to say what difference he might have made the other night, but Michael Owen scores goals," said Gerrard. "Domestically, in Europe and at international level he has proved that.

"Someone asked me after Wednesday’s game if I would like him back, and it’s a silly question ... of course I would love to have him back."

Gerrard believes the return of Owen, who scored 158 goals in seven years with Liverpool, could help get the best out of Peter Crouch.

"Statistics don’t lie," said Gerrard. "I’m not going to disguise the fact that we need a poacher. The problem we have got is obvious.

"Peter has never been prolific, and I don’t think he is ever going to be. He’s a target man, you will only get the maximum out of him if you play him alongside a prolific striker, and we have not got one at the moment."