By Kris Gonzo | Senior West Ham Columnist (Follow on X)
Bowen’s starring role sends another signal
Jarrod Bowen has featured heavily in the launch of West Ham United’s newly released home kit, unveiled this morning.
The shirt, the first produced by New Balance following the club’s switch from Umbro, is certain to divide opinion among supporters. Then again, new kits usually do.
As I seem to say every year, it’s claret and blue, although this one certainly contains a little more blue than last season’s offering.
Whatever supporters make of the design, Bowen’s prominent role in the launch campaign is surely another indication that the club are becoming increasingly confident their captain will remain at the London Stadium for the Championship campaign and the push for an immediate return to the Premier League.
That follows earlier whispers from within the club suggesting Bowen is open to continuing his career with the Hammers, who return for pre-season training next week.
Potts & Magassa model the new West Ham shirt
The price of supporting your club
As for the kit itself, I’ll leave it to you lovely readers to decide whether it’s one for the wardrobe.
It certainly isn’t a cheap purchase, but that’s the reality of replica football shirts these days.
The ‘Elite’ version carries an eye-watering £110 price tag, although that clearly hasn’t deterred supporters, with the club website operating a queuing system this morning as fans rushed to place their orders.
A cheaper replica version is available for £75, while youth shirts are priced at £60.
One noticeable improvement is the disappearance of the green QuickBooks logo from the sleeve, which, in my opinion, leaves the shirt looking much cleaner.
No doubt, however, it will be the appearance of Jarrod Bowen, rather than the fabric or colours, that attracts most attention today.
He did look a bit sad in one of the photos though 🙁