West Ham have received some bad news regarding Jarrod Bowen ahead of Thursday’s Europa League clash with Bayer Leverkusen.
Claret and Haugh have been told that scan results have revealed no permanent damage, but the Hammers’ winger has severe bruising to his spine. While no return date has been specified by anyone at West Ham, the injury usually takes between 2-3 weeks to heal, meaning Bowen could potentially miss both legs.
The news has come from a source close to the player. At this stage, nothing has been ruled out, and there is the potential to administer a pain-killing injection ahead of the game. However, there is no way of sugar-coating this bad news.
Injury news ahead of Europa clash: Bowen could miss vital first leg
While the club was expecting bruising of some kind, the trauma to the spine has clearly come as something of a surprise. Possibly the best-case scenario is that Bowen returns for the second leg against Leverkusen at The London Stadium.
If Bowen is unfit for the away leg at the BayArena, then I’d expect David Moyes to opt for the wing-back formation he used in the second half against Wolves.