Manchester City manager Eriksson hopes to capitalise on the unrest with a bid but Owen's fee could be a whopping £15million plus £110,000-a-week wages.
That could be too much cash for former England boss Eriksson, even though he has been told by owner Thaksin Shinawatra there will be cash available in January.
Owen, 27, has failed to settle on Tyneside and the fans have never truly taken to him.
They feel he would have rather returned to Liverpool or signed with another big English club when he joined Toon for £16m from Real Madrid in 2005.
