West Ham United ace Jarrod Bowen ‘certainly’ of interest to Arsenal ahead of January window
West Ham forward Jarrod Bowen is “certainly” a player being considered by Arsenal ahead of the January transfer window, according to journalist Luke Edwards.
The England international, who was included in Gareth Southgate’s latest squad on Thursday [5 October], has already been touted as a target for Liverpool and Manchester City.
Arsenal are relying heavily on Bukayo Saka out wide on the right, but the 22-year-old has suffered a couple of injury scares over the past week.
Bowen plays in that same position, and The Telegraph’s Edwards believes there could potentially be some movement on Arsenal’s end early in the new year.
“I don’t think West Ham would be overly willing to sell, certainly not in the middle of a season,” he told BBC’s Football Gossip Daily [5 October, 10m 38s]. “But the negotiations for Declan Rice were respectful.
“Bowen would be very much an able player. The problem you’ll have attracting players is, would anyone want to go [to Arsenal] and be a squad player, playing behind Saka?
“But they are obviously short in that area and I suspect when Arsenal have those recruitment meetings, as all Premier League teams are constantly having, they’ll already be drawing up contingency plans for January, and Bowen would certainly be one of those players who comes into the conversation.
“I just can’t see West Ham being willing, especially after bringing in £105million for Declan Rice, being willing to sell midway through the season. But we shall see, and there may well be something in that.”
Vultures circling
It is little wonder that Bowen is attracting so much interest as he has scored five goals in seven Premier League appearances already this season and set up another.
The 26-year-old has been nominated for the Premier League’s Player of the Month award in both August and September and is now back in England’s squad.
Bowen really is flying, but with a good run of form comes the inevitable rumours – and Arsenal are not the only vultures seemingly waiting to pounce in January.
Former Hull City ace Bowen is out of contract at London Stadium at the end of next season, meaning West Ham will realistically have to cash in next year at some point if a new deal is not agreed beforehand.
It is the same situation they found themselves in with Rice, when ultimately holding out for £105m this past window.
As the Rice sale goes to show, West Ham the club is bigger than one player. Still, it is fair to say everyone here is desperate for Bowen to put pen to paper on a new deal and bring an end to this speculation.
In other West Ham news, rival Premier League clubs are “on alert” as they monitor the future of a Hammers player.