Owen joins Stoke as free agent

Owen joins Stoke as free agent

 LONDON, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Former England striker Michael Owen has signed for Stoke City as a free agent, said the English Premier¹ League side on Tuesday.

The 32-year-old sealed a one-year contract with Stoke after being released by Manchester United at the end of last season.

"Delighted to have signed for Stoke subject to Premier League approval," he posted on Twitter. "We have been in talks for a while and it was a club I was always keen to join."

Clubs are able to sign free agents outside the transfer window but are only able to field them in the Premier League if they have previously² registered fewer than 25 players.

Owen, suffering a series of injuries, just started one Premier League match in the last two seasons.

The former England star, who made his name at Liverpool before joining Real Madrid, has scored 221 goals in 473 appearances in Premiership and 40 goals in 89 appearances for England.

1 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

2 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。