West Ham Training Ground Insider Reveals Crucial Bowen Update

Jarrod Bowen has been front and centre of a will-he-won’t-he debate regarding his future at West Ham following relegation to the Championship.

Whilst West Ham wish to hang on to Jarrod, Chelsea are believed to have shown preliminary interest in a £40 million move for the Hammers captain, while there have even been rumours of a deeply unpalatable switch to Tottenham Hotspur, who took Mohammed Kudus from the London Stadium last summer.

For West Ham fans, while Bowen’s numbers in terms of goals and assists remained incredibly impressive, particularly in a relegated team, something never quite felt right about his overall performances.

Bowen Injury Theory Questioned

There has been plenty of talk about a possible injury, or perhaps just the physical and mental fatigue of a player who probably hasn’t enjoyed a proper extended break from football for the best part of four years.

One of the recurring observations has been that Bowen appears to have lost a yard of pace. In previous seasons he regularly beat full-backs on the outside, but we haven’t seen the same ability to burst away from defenders this campaign.

That has led many to speculate that he has been carrying an injury.

However, when a training ground insider spoke to Claret & Hugh earlier this week, it left us somewhat confused on the issue.

The source, who for obvious reasons preferred not to be named, said:

“I don’t know about any injury but I can tell you this much, Jarrod wasn’t having treatment. If players get injuries they are usually getting treatment between games but he has consistently attended sessions.”

Maybe Bowen Is Just Exhausted

If true — and I have no reason to suspect otherwise — then perhaps the explanation is simply that Bowen is knackered.

Possibly it’s a combination of physical fatigue and the burden of captaining a football club which has been in decline throughout a difficult season.

I’ve been of the belief for some time now that, at 29 years of age and having avoided any serious cruciate injury, there is no reason why Bowen cannot return to his very best.

In fact, you could argue he’s approaching what should be the peak years of his career.

As long as he can enjoy a proper break this summer, I see no reason why he can’t return in excellent condition for the start of next season.

Let’s just hope he’s wearing a West Ham shirt when he does.