No doubt about it, West Ham retaining their skipper this summer has been instrumental in their flying start to the Championship promotion push, now lying second after a quarter of the season.
Bowen’s decision to stick with West Ham, was, by his own admission, partly due to acting Chairman Daniel Kretinsky’s meeting with the Hammers’ captain in Prague which convinced him to stay in east London for a season in the second tier.
However, a new report out claims that Bowen’s commitment to West Ham was also made possible thanks to England manager Thomas Tuchel’s very omission of Bowen from the World Cup squad – while he was still a Premier League player.
Insidefutbol.com believe it is because of Tuchel’s dropping Bowen whilst he was still playing within the top tier that convinced the Hammers skipper that he’d not secure a return to Tuchel’s squad simply by moving teams and staying in the Premier League.
England’s loss is West Ham’s gain, according to a new report this afternoon.
Quoting former Championship striker Aaron McLean, their report maintains that:
“Jarrod Bowen’s omission from England’s World Cup squad may have played a decisive role in West Ham United retaining their captain during the summer:
“If he had gone to the World Cup, and he was a regular in the England squad, I think maybe it might have been different.
“I think the fact he wasn’t selected was a huge reason why he was like, ‘No, I’m captain of this football club and and I want to help get them back to the Premier League’.”
Whatever the reason, Bowen had been always the understudy to England’s winger Bukayo Saka, seemingly destined never to get ahead of the Arsenal star in Tuchel’s pecking order. A mistake, but one which could well have worked out perfectly for his club whilst spelling the likely end of Bowen’s international career.
England’s loss is very much West Ham’s gain.