Premier League strugglers West Ham United have recruited highly-rated prospect, Jarrod Bowen, from Hull City. The deal, reported to be for an initial £18-million with up to £7-million in add-ons, is a bid by the Hammers to boost their chances of Premier League survival – they currently lie in 18th place in the standings.
West Ham have a track record of spending big money on players who are supremely talented but whose form is sporadic at best. The likes of Felipe Anderson, Andriy Yarmolenko and Sebastien Haller have all arrived in the past few transfer windows and have all shown glimpses of their prowess but ultimately failed to deliver; this, above all else, is the reason West Ham find themselves in their current predicament.
However, Bowen appears to be a far more sensible signing than his forerunners. The 23-year-old has been the subject of much transfer speculation over the past two years. He has been consistently excellent in the Championship, even when Hull City have been struggling.
Capable of playing as a winger, a number 10 or even as a shadow striker, Bowen has scored a remarkable 52 goals in the past three Championship seasons. With 16 in 29 already for Hull this campaign, he will be sorely missed by the club’s fans.
It is unclear where exactly in the West Ham United system Bowen will fit, but he will surely get straight into the starting 11 under David Moyes; the Scott is said to be a long-term admirer of the Herefordshire-born ace. It might take him a while to get used to the rough-and-tumble of the Premier League having played almost the entirety of his career in the Championship so far. But he looks to be the real deal and Hammers fans can take much encouragement from that.
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