The full story of an extraordinary Hammers day
West Ham signed Jarrod Bowen in a deal which, with add-ons, could see them paying out around £25 million although we understand the upfront fee was between £18-£20m.
The deal was seemingly in doubt right up until 11 pm despite the best efforts of SSn’s Kaveh Solheko – followed by others- to assure us all was well after the player passed his medical at West Ham during the course of the day.
The reality was that he had been in Leeds all day yesterday until leaving on a train which reached King’s Cross at around 9pm.
All day long the Hammers had been dealing with his agent with the first ‘snag’ appearing when it was claimed that a 50pc cut in Bowen’s wages would be affected – like all others in the Hammers squad- should we go down.
The pay cut was always known by all sides – what was really being discussed was a “low”relegation release clause – as it was described by a CandH source – which we now understand has been set at around £25 million.
Whilst all this was going on Bowen was being kept out of the picture until the last possible moment as every last second was seemingly used to get his demands – including the agent’s fee!
The later it got, the easier that got!
When Bowen did finally arrive in London he was met at King’s Cross by Hammers club secretary Andrew Pincher who hustled him into a waiting blacked out cab and rushed him to the London Stadium.
The deal was was finally done at the last possible moment as the club’s media team – who had been waiting all evening – took their photos, made their videos and finally announced the news we had all been waiting to hear.
Bowen was a Hammer after rejecting – or being rejected – by both Palace and Newcastle who allegedly shied off given the agent’s required fees.