Everton have been linked with what would be a sensational transfer swoop for West Ham United captain Jarrod Bowen
David Moyes and Jarrod Bowen of West Ham United speak to the media in the post match press conference after the team's victory during the UEFA Europa Conference League final against Fiorentina at Eden Arena, Prague, on June 7, 2023
David Moyes and Jarrod Bowen of West Ham United speak to the media in the post match press conference after the team's victory during the UEFA Europa Conference League final against Fiorentina at Eden Arena, Prague, on June 7, 2023
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David Moyes gave Jarrod Bowen his big break in the Premier League and in turn the West Ham United player gave his manager the greatest moment in his football life, so could the pair be reunited at Everton?
Bowen wrote himself into the Blues’ history books earlier this season when he netted the Hammers’ equaliser in the 1-1 draw on September 29 to become the first opposition player to score in a competitive match at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Now an article in the Daily Mail claims that three Premier League clubs are keeping tabs on the England international ahead of this summer’s transfer window with West Ham - who sit 18th in the table, three points adrift of safety given they’re two below Tottenham Hotspur with a goal difference that is 11 worse, with two games to go - at risk of losing their star man.
The piece states that Liverpool are long-standing admirers and strong contenders as they search for a replacement for Mohamed Salah; Newcastle United are interested as they prepare to sell Anthony Gordon, while Everton are in the mix with Moyes having taken Bowen to the London Stadium from Hull City for £22million in January 2020.
Quoting directly from the report, it says: “Relegation after 14 years in the Premier League would have huge financial repercussions and trigger contractual clauses.
“There is a growing feeling, however, that Bowen might have clearance to leave even if they avoid the drop. Those in pursuit believe he might be prised away for less than £60million.”
Never mind competing against their neighbours, who last summer embarked on the biggest spending spree in world football history, splashing out a reported £414.5million, or Newcastle, who, given that they’re backed by the sovereign wealth fund of the House of Saud, are – on paper at least – the richest club on the planet, just ‘how much’ less than £60million Bowen could be available for could determine whether this potential deal is a non-starter for Everton.
While the Blues are now on a much sounder financial footing given that the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily ranking of the world’s richest people, currently has owner Dan Friedkin in 309th place and calculates the 61-year-old Gulf States Toyota CEO as having a net worth of $11.5billion (approximately £8.51billion), and given the move to Hill Dickinson Stadium was estimated as bringing in an extra £60million a year of income, the days of Farhad Moshiri trying to play ‘fantasy football’ are over.
Back in 2019 when he was majority shareholder at Goodison Park, the Monaco-based businessman tried to embark on a personal pursuit to lure Wilfried Zaha to Everton at a time when the player’s club Crystal Palace had slapped a £100million price tag on his head. For the record, the Ivory Coast international, who is now on loan at MLS side Charlotte FC from Galatasaray, would net just four goals for the Eagles that season after remaining at Selhurst Park.
Although Zaha proved to be something of a bullet dodged – Everton would ultimately still be given a brace of points deductions for PSR breaches under Moshiri – the same could not be said for another mercurial talent, Gylfi Sigurdsson, who arrived for what still remains a £45million club record fee in 2017 but would leave on a free transfer when his contract expired.
Bowen, who has hit double figures in all competitions in each of his five full seasons in the Premier League – including a 20-goal haul in his last campaign under Moyes in 2023/24 – is a far more consistent performer than either of those two, but he’ll also be turning 30 before the year is out.
Time and tide wait for no man. At 23 when he was signed for the Hammers by Moyes, Bowen was a similar age to both Joleon Lescott and Tim Cahill when they were plucked from the Championship by the Glaswegian gaffer to come to Everton.
Although the subsequent years, including the act referenced in the introduction to this piece, when Bowen netted a last-minute winner against Fiorentina in the 2023 UEFA Europa Conference League final to end West Ham’s 43-year silverware drought and deliver the first major trophy of Moyes’ managerial career, have shown that he’s now very much a proven performer at the highest level, it would be highly unlikely for the Blues to break their transfer record for someone as advanced in their football journey as him, no matter how good they are.
It's fair to say that David Moyes rather enjoyed Jarrod Bowen's last-minute winner in the 2023 UEFA Europa Conference League final
It's fair to say that David Moyes rather enjoyed Jarrod Bowen's last-minute winner in the 2023 UEFA Europa Conference League final
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This was part of the reason why Everton would not entertain Manchester City’s £50million asking price for Jack Grealish last summer, but as he showed following his season-long loan move, before his campaign was cruelly curtailed just after the halfway mark following a stress fracture picked up in the 1-0 win at boyhood club Aston Villa, the Brummie ace still had plenty to offer.
The Blues have missed Grealish’s football intelligence since he was sidelined through injury with the 30-year-old able to play the game at his own pace, buying precious seconds to help his team-mates get up the pitch and cleverly enticing fouls from opponents.
There is no doubting that Bowen – an even more dynamic athlete than the first £100million English footballer who primarily operates on the opposite flank – would greatly improve this Everton team (with Tyler Dibling failing to sufficiently impress his manager, Dwight McNeil and now Merlin Rohl have both taken their place on the right wing), but like with Grealish, do the numbers stack up?
Also, would Bowen, who has gone from growing up in the sleepy footballing backwater of Leominster, Herefordshire (although he started at Hereford United like Blues legend Kevin Sheedy), swap his status of being an idol among East Enders in the capital, given he is married to Dani Dyer, daughter of near namesake and celebrity Irons fan Danny Dyer?
If there’s anyone who might be able to tempt him though, it’s his old boss for whom he still holds great respect. Ahead of last month’s game against Everton, where he showed his worth once more with a brace of assists, in his capacity as captain, Bowen displayed the admiration he has for the 63-year-old in his programme notes.
He wrote: “Everton under David Moyes are a great example of how to thrive in the Premier League. They give everything in every game, regardless of opponent or venue, and that’s been rewarded by them being in the race for European qualification.
“We all know how good a manager David Moyes is, and how good Alan Irvine and Billy McKinlay are as his assistants, and he gets the best out of his players. I’m certainly not surprised they’ve done so well.”