The lack of Premier League football might be a drag, but West Ham United fans were at least able to watch Jarrod Bowen on Tuesday night.
The sensationally talented winger didn’t feature in the drab 2-0 win over Andorra, but he did come off the bench in the 5-0 demolition of Serbia.
It was the Hammers star’s 17th cap for the country, and while that’s a great achievement, plenty would argue his talent and form suggest he should have plenty more under his belt.
The Englishman has been one of the Irons’ best players for years now, but he might have some welcome competition in the shape of an academy gem pretty soon.
Bowen's West Ham career
Bowen joined West Ham in January 2020 from Hull City for a fairly hefty fee – for a Championship player – of £20m.
While it’s easy to forget today, the then 23-year-old wasn’t an instant hit in East London, scoring just a single goal and providing four assists in his 13 appearances that season.
However, we started to see the player we recognise today the following season, as he bolstered his return to eight goals and six assists and, from that point on, was one of the club’s key players.
Undoubtedly, the 28-year-old’s best moment for the Hammers came in the 2023 Conference League final, in which he scored the match-winning goal in the 90th minute to hand the club their first European trophy.
In all, the Leominster-born monster has made 242 appearances for West Ham, totalling 19251 minutes, in which he’s scored 75 goals and provided 52 assists.
That means the legend in the making has managed to average a goal involvement every 1.90 games, or every 151.58 minutes since making the move to the London Stadium over five years ago.
With all that said, it’s certainly encouraging that the academy might be about to provide the club with their own homegrown version of Bowen.
West Ham's homegrown Bowen
West Ham have a proud history of developing some seriously top talent, and the latest star to come out of their academy may just be Elisha Sowunmi.
In The Pipeline
Football FanCast’s In the Pipeline series aims to uncover the very best youth players in world football.
The 18-year-old prospect joined the club at the under-9s level and put pen to paper on his first professional contract earlier this summer.
It’s not hard to see why the Hammers were keen to tie him down, as he’s come on leaps and bounds in the junior sides and had a campaign to remember last season.
For example, in 25 appearances totalling just 2081 minutes, the promising talent put the ball in the back of the net 14 times and provided two assists to boot.
That means he was able to maintain an average of a goal involvement every 1.56 games, or every 130.06 and suggests he could be a real goal threat when he progresses to the first team, like Bowen.
Appearances
25
Minutes
2081′
Goals
14
Assists
2
Goal Involvements per Match
0.64
Minutes per Goal Involvement
130.06′
However, that isn’t the only trait he shares with the 28-year-old, as he’s also incredibly versatile, having played all over the pitch from attacking midfield to up top and off the right, which is now considered his primary role.
It should be said that the step-up to senior football is massive, and it may take a few years before fans see him on a regular basis, but as academy manager Kenny Brown points out, “he has all the talent in the world.”
Ultimately, Bowen is without question West Ham’s best player and probably will remain so for at least a few more years, but keep an eye out for Sowunmi – he looks like the real deal.
