Former West Ham academy graduate, Glen Johnson, believes Jarrod Bowen could be about to make a huge transfer decision this summer.
With three games left to play this season, West Ham are precariously close to being relegated to the Championship, after a 14-year stay in the Premier League.
The Hammers are 18th and trail 17th-placed Tottenham by one point, but host title-chasing Arsenal at London Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Relegation is expected to spark a mass exodus of key players in east London. The club’s annual accounts revealed earlier this year that, due to record losses over the past year, player sales are going to be unavoidable regardless of what division they’re playing in next season.
One player whose future likely rests on West Ham’s league status is captain Jarrod Bowen.
Bowen is the club’s highest-paid player, with a contract believed to be worth around £150k-a-week. The England international is also the Hammers’ most important player, and he will likely have clubs queuing up for his signature should West Ham fail to escape the drop.
Bowen’s family ties could sway transfer decision
Bowen is married to actor Danny Dyer’s daughter, Dani. Danny is a West Ham fanatic and has made no secret of his pride that he can call Bowen his son-in-law.
Meanwhile, Dani, has previously gone public in stating she wants to remain close to home. Indeed, that might not be possible in the future should Bowen leave West Ham. However, she has also said she would obviously follow her husband wherever he ends up in his career.
So Bowen’s family ties with the club he captains and is, of course, already a club hero, obviously makes a move away from east London a little more complicated.
Bowen definitely won’t want to leave West Ham this summer, that’s for sure. But, at the age of 29, a move away could give him one last chance to player for a club potentially competing in the Champions League, with Liverpool being one of the clubs reportedly keen on his services.
Can West Ham afford to keep Bowen?
The reality, though, is that West Ham may be forced to accept bids for Bowen this summer, given his high value and salary.
Bowen’s commitment and loyalty to the club may be irrelevant in a scenario like this, unless he were willing to take a huge pay cut beyond the likely clause in his contract that will trigger a drop in salary in the event of relegation. He may not even have one.
If the club is unable to raise enough funds from other player sales, with the likes of Mateus Fernandes, Crysencio Summerville, El Hadji Malick Diouf, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Tomas Soucek just some players likely to be sold, then Bowen may also be a player the club can no longer afford to hold on to.
Having a player like Bowen in the Championship would almost be like a cheat code for West Ham. The forward has registered 20+ goal contributions in each of his last five seasons in claret and blue, so you can just imagine what he’d be capable of in the second tier of English football.
But it’s a huge financial risk to keep him on the books in the event of relegation, even if Bowen remaining at London Stadium significantly boosts their promotion chances.
Johnson tips Bowen to stay at West Ham
But former Hammer, Johnson, believes it’s Bowen’s family ties which could sway his decision and make him stay in east London.
When asked if it’s possible he could opt to stay at West Ham, Johnson suggested putting family over a big transfer move could pay dividends for Bowen.
Speaking to Goal.com, he said: “I think so, yeah.
“He’s had links to other clubs, potentially bigger clubs and stuff like that, and this has never happened.
“For whatever reason, he didn’t want it or the club didn’t want it enough. So I think he’s got a chance to stay there, become a club legend.
“They’re a big West Ham family, which is obviously lovely. So for the sake of leaving for potentially the worst two or three years of your career somewhere else and lose that, I’d rather stay.”
Indeed, at Bowen’s age, he’s probably still got one big move in him before those kinds of options run out, but there’s still no guarantee a move away from West Ham will be a success.
He’s settled in east London, is already a West Ham hero, and his family don’t want to move.
So while it sounds incredibly unlikely, it wouldn’t exactly be a surprise if we saw Bowen playing for West Ham in the Championship next season.
