Newcastle United reportedly want to lure Jarrod Bowen away from Championship Hull City.
Even Steve Bruce might not have predicted that Jarrod Bowen would become one of the brightest young forwards in English football.
It was Bruce who brought the young forward to Hull City in the summer of 2014 from non-league Hereford Town. And though the Geordie gaffer had big plans for him, it was only after Bruce left that Bowen started to establish himself as the star man on Humberside.
The winger-turned-centre-forward scored 22 Championship goals last season, a record of around one-in-two, and he has maintained that form with three in six in the opening weeks of 2019/20.
And, according to The Express, Bruce is trying to make up for lost time by reuniting with Bowen at Newcastle United in January. Southampton are interested too with Bowen valued at £20 million, despite the fact that his contract expires next summer as things stand.
Should Bruce get his man, it will be a real coup for a manager who has admired Bowen for quite some time.
“Jarrod was a boy playing in men’s football. That is not something you often see,” the then-Aston Villa boss told the Yorkshire Post in 2017 after Bowen scored in a 1-1 draw at the start of the Championship season at Villa Park.
“I felt he handled himself well then and he was excellent against us. With Hull being – no disrespect – a backwater, it lets young players flourish.”
Despite the big-money signings of Joelinton and Allan Saint-Maximin, goals are likely to be in short supply once again for Newcastle this season and the quicksilver, clinical Bowen could potentially give Bruce the firepower he is crying out for.
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