West Ham United paid a huge fee to sign Jarrod Bowen from Championship Hull City – but can a player Steve Bruce admires cut it in the Premier League?
Newcastle United decided against bidding for new West Ham United forward Jarrod Bowen because they felt £20 million was a little too rich for a man who had never played Premier League football before, according to The Chronicle.
The former Hull City talisman spent most of the last few months being relentlessly linked with a host of top-flight clubs. And, given that Steve Bruce knew and admired Bowen from his time in charge at the KCOM Stadium, Newcastle were never too far away from the discussions.
But, by the time deadline day arrived, The Magpies were conspicuous by their absence as West Ham beat London rivals Crystal Palace to the signature of an elusive attacker with 17 goals to his name this season.
With Joelinton, Dwight Gayle and Yoshinori Muto netting a grand total of four times between them, Newcastle supporters might have wondered why Bowen is wearing claret and blue rather than black and white.
It seems, however, that the explanation is a simple and rather understandable one.
With Hull demanding an eye-watering £20 million fee for their stocky star, Newcastle had serious reservations about making a player who had only ever played Championship football one of their most expensive players of all time.
Furthermore, The Chronicle adds that ‘club insiders’ felt that Bowen would not have substantially improved Bruce’s attack.
The St James’ Park faithful might have their own opinions on this, however, after watching Joelinton lead the line with all the confidence of a spotty teen at his first house party. Only time well tell whether Newcastle made the right call.
Will Bowen be West Ham’s new Jermain Defoe or the second coming of Jordan Hugill?
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