For any club after a proven goalscorer, slightly shop-soiled, runs reliably if well-looked after, St James' Park today is the perfect place to pick up a bargain.
With just hours left until the chaos of football's January transfer bazaar, Michael Owen could not have hoped for a better pitch from which to hawk his wares.
On television, he has a captive market to prove why England should remember its forgotten man. No doubt the eagle-eyed scouts and battle-hardened hagglers of a host of Premier League clubs will be in attendance, too.
Manchester City are ready with a £6 million bid. Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal are all in need of added firepower. But the one man Owen would dearly love to entice will likely greet any evidence of his undimmed predatory instincts with fury – visiting Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez.
It was Benitez who was forced, against his will, to kowtow to Owen's demand to move to Real Madrid when he first arrived in the summer of 2004. It was Benitez who refused to stump up the £16 million Newcastle offered when, his Spanish adventure failed, Owen returned to England, desperate to join the then-European champions.
Now it is Benitez who offers Owen hope for the future. He has just six months left on his contract at St James's Park. Newcastle will cash in should they receive an offer tempting enough, rather than lose him for nothing but a host of what-ifs in June.
It is thought Owen's representatives will use Liverpool's visit to St James's to try to engineer a meeting with both Benitez and Rick Parry, who controls the comings and goings at Anfield, although already there are those within the Liverpool camp who need no persuading as to Owen's merits.
"Michael Owen is still a terrific goalscorer and he will be a terrible threat to us," said assistant coach Sammy Lee. "He's someone we'll have to keep our eyes on when we play them. We know exactly what qualities Michael Owen has got."
Those qualities may not be enough to ensure the return of the prodigal. Owen's refusal to sign an extension have been interpreted as a stalling tactic to smoke out interest from clubs with better prospects.