Fabio Capello has hinted that Michael Owen's England career may be over.
England's fourth highest goalscorer has endured a miserable time with injuries of late.
The latest in a succession of problems with Newcastle has been ankle ligament trouble, which ruled him out for five games, before he was promptly dropped for the defeat by Arsenal at St James' Park last week.
Yet Owen is only 29, four years younger than David Beckham and still harbours strong ambitions to increase his 40-goal tally for the English and get closer to Sir Bobby Charlton's all-time record of 49.
Unfortunately for the former Liverpool star, Capello is only interested in what lies ahead rather than glories of the past.
He has given Owen just one cap during his reign so far, as a substitute in the friendly defeat to France in Paris 12 months ago.
And the Italian has offered no indication another will be forthcoming soon, providing a withering assessment as he explained why Owen did not even enter his thinking as a replacement for thigh injury victim Carlton Cole ahead of England's vital World Cup qualifier against the Ukraine.
'I have to choose players to play against the Ukraine, not against history,' said Capello. 'I have chosen the best players who are in good form at the moment.
'It is impossible to choose someone who has only played for 20 minutes. Why didn't he play the last game?'
Capello did state if Owen were to 'play three or four games he would be with us' but alongside the comment about the striker's past glories it seemed pretty insignificant.
And more importantly than either assessment, was confirmation, moments earlier, of how Capello envisages his team for the future.
'We play with three midfielders, two players like Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard and one forward,' he declared.
As Rooney and Gerrard are such pivotal figures, operating in the gap between midfield and a centre forward capable of holding the ball up and bringing others into play, as opposed to one who plays on the shoulder of the last defender, it is difficult to see how Owen could possibly fit in.
It is stating the obvious to declare Rooney and Gerrard to be automatic choices and Capello only has to point at England's results over the past few months to provide more than adequate justification for his position.
'I want Rooney and Gerrard to be very free to move around when we have the ball,' he said. 'That is the way I want them to play.'
