It’s fair to say that one or two eyebrows were raised when Liverpool were linked with Jarrod Bowen a few months back.
Many had expected the Reds to target a forward during the summer transfer window, but few would have had the West Ham man’s name high on the list of potential arrivals at Anfield.
Liverpool’s interest, though, was genuine. Bowen, 24, is seen as a player of considerable potential, and one capable of making the step up to a ‘big four’ club in the future.
“It was a deal which would have made sense on a number of levels,” says one Reds source, although there was to be no official bid despite this. West Ham, in any case, insisted they had no intention of letting Bowen leave, and certainly not for anything less than £40 million ($54m).
That price may well have gone up since, with Bowen only enhancing his reputation through his performances for the high-flying Hammers this season. Jurgen Klopp is certainly a fan, speaking about Bowen in his press conference ahead of Liverpool’s trip to the London Stadium on Sunday.
“I like him a lot,” said the Reds boss. “He made his way up from Hull and he didn't take too long to get there and show exactly what kind of player he can be in the Premier League. He made big steps.”
David Moyes, too, has been enthused by his progress. “I believe he’s been knocking at the door for England,’ said the Hammers boss recently.
There was certainly some surprise within the club this week when Bowen was overlooked for Gareth Southgate’s latest squad – although the fact the likes of Mason Greenwood, Jadon Sancho, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Emile Smith Rowe are also absent speaks to the level of attacking quality at Southgate’s disposal.
Bowen’s form has been excellent, though, and if anyone was wondering why a club like Liverpool, or a manager like Klopp, admires him, they need only look at his numbers.
For example, of all Premier League forwards this season, only three have had more touches in the opposition penalty area. Two of them are Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, and the other is Michail Antonio.
Only four forwards – Salah, Antonio, Raphinha and Raul Jimenez – have created more chances, only four have completed more dribbles and only four rank higher for ball recoveries.
When it comes to Expected Goals (xG), Bowen ranks seventh in the league, above the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Roberto Firmino, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Son Heung-min, among others, and in terms of Expected Assists (xA) he is fourth, behind only Raphinha, Salah and Brentford’s Ivan Toney.
His goalscoring record can certainly improve – he has 12 in 68 appearances for West Ham – but Bowen’s profile is that of a creative, versatile forward with excellent off-the-ball qualities.
A Klopp player, in short.
Mark Noble, the West Ham club captain, remembers being struck by Bowen’s early training sessions following his £25m ($34m) move from Hull in January 2020.
“I could see that he gets after the ball as well, and I love seeing that,” Noble said. “It doesn’t happen anywhere near as much as it used to, apart from at the top teams.
“So when I saw him doing it, I thought ‘Yes! He wants it!’ and it was nice to see.”
Bowen’s star is on the rise, for sure, but those who know him say he plays with the hunger and enthusiasm of someone who has seen the other side of football too.
He was close to quitting the sport entirely at 16. Hereford United, his first club, had scrapped their youth team, and a six-week trial at Cardiff had failed to yield a contract offer.
"It was a bitter pill to swallow,” Bowen remembers. “At that point, I was just like, 'I can't be bothered with this', but luckily Hereford's youth team started back up again.
“They had to ask me a few times to go back – I took some persuading because I was ready to give up on it – but, in the end, I agreed to start playing again."
It was a good job he did. Bowen played for Hereford’s first-team at 17, and when the club was expelled from the Football Conference at the end of the 2013-14 he was signed by Hull, then of the Premier League.
He would go on to make 152 appearances on Humberside, including seven in the Premier League, scoring 54 times. He was linked strongly with Tottenham and Crystal Palace, among others, but it was West Ham who took the plunge, signing him shortly before the coronavirus pandemic.
He has become a regular since, appearing in all 38 Premier League games for the Hammers last season, and all 10 so far this time around. “He’s a big player for us,” Moyes says.
Off-the-field, Bowen is known as a workaholic, one who spent his summer break running through potato fields, pushing wheelbarrows filled with bricks and turning over tyres near his family home in Leominster. He returned for pre-season training, in Moyes’ words, “lighter and sharper, in great nick.”
Bowen’s father, Sam, was a prolific non-League striker with the likes of Methyr Tydfil, Newport County and Worcester City, and remains the biggest influence on his son’s career.
“He has a saying that we have no reverse gear, so we're always going forward," Bowen says. "I've come over so many obstacles over the years, so now when things get chucked at me, I know that I can get through to the other side with the mindset that I've got.”
Moyes has compared his story to that of Jamie Vardy, a tale of resilience, hard-work and dedication. “He’s been improving since he signed for us,” says the West Ham boss. “You can’t ever lose that hunger, and Jarrod has it. He’s at it.”
Bowen is happy and settled at West Ham. His contract runs until 2025 and he has already earned himself one significant pay-rise after hitting 30 league games earlier this year.
Liverpool, though, will continue to monitor his progress. Klopp rates him, he is represented by the same agency as Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson, and knows that the Reds, surely, will be looking to add a forward player soon enough – if not in January, then certainly next summer.
On Sunday, then, he has the chance to show them exactly what he’s about.
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