Evidence? You lose pace with hamstring injuries, not ACL reconstructions. For people who are saying he'll never be the same player again... this procedure has incredibly high success rates. Considering the resources Owen has available (World class surgeon & rehabilitation) his chances are as good as they could be. There might be problems if he had additional damage inside the knee, but there has been no reports of that. FWIW I'd take him back. Consistent goalscorers in the Premiership are very hard to come by.