West Ham United transfer news: Nine-figure Jarrod Bowen stance emerges as clubs forced to pay ‘silly’ money
West Ham value Jarrod Bowen as highly as they did Declan Rice so will put a “silly” price tag on him to dare suitors to pay it, according to Dean Jones.
The TEAMtalk journalist told GiveMeSport on 19 December that the Irons consider the star winger as a £100million player just as their did the former captain before his summer move to Arsenal, and have “absolutely no intention” of seeing him follow the midfielder out of the club.
Liverpool have been repeatedly linked to the 27-year-old in recent windows but after the club tied him down to a seven-year contract they are safe to charge huge money.
Jones said: “West Ham believe Jarrod Bowen is a £100million footballer, at this point, to them. He is on a seven-year contract and every bit as important as Declan Rice was to them. They have absolutely no intention of losing him.
“What we’ve learned from West Ham is that if someone is worth that much to them, they will put a silly price tag on them. If someone wants to pay it, so be it.
“I think it was a different case with Declan Rice because we knew that he was going to leave and he had suitors.”
Leading light
Although West Ham are far from consistent this season birthday boy Bowen has been very much so, with 10 goals and an assist in the Premier League.
That form has prevented the inability to sign a striker in the summer from being a total catastrophe to the club this term, at least before Mohammed Kudus found his feet and gained the trust of David Moyes.
With Michail Antonio going off the boil prior to his injury it is Bowen and now the Ghanian star who have picked up the slack in attack.
The precedent was set in the summer with the protracted deal that saw Rice depart for the Emirates, but with the contract situation very different when it comes to Bowen he seems unlikely to be going anywhere any time soon.
He remains arguably the jewel in the crown at the London Stadium, even allowing for the emergence of Kudus and the quality of Lucas Paqueta.
Having turned 27 on Wednesday it is probably unlikely that a club would be prepared to stump up the cash in the way they were for Rice, 24, but if he keeps up his excellent scoring form he might put that to the test.
In other West Ham news, the club are planning to cash in to help fund three January signings.