West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen has made a statement that is as worrying as it is reassuring amid interest from Tottenham Hotspur.
Another West Ham game and another virtuoso Jarrod Bowen performance got his team out of the mud.
While Tottenham Hotspur were losing 4-1 at home to Brighton, West Ham were winning 3-1 at Ipswich to ensure the season at least ended with some bragging rights over league position in east London.
The reality, though, is that Spurs winning the Europa League – and thereby qualifying for the Champions League – leaves West Ham fans with little to say to their London rivals.
Ending their 17-year trophy drought by lifting a superior European trophy to the Conference League meant West Ham’s Spurs-specific trophy taunts were rendered redundant overnight.
It also planted a seed of worry in the minds of some Hammers fans given recent claims about Tottenham interest in their talisman.
West Ham have said goodbye to their captain in each of the last three seasons.
First it was Mark Noble retiring, then Declan Rice was sold to London rivals Arsenal and Kurt Zouma was offloaded.
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Top source confirmed Spurs ‘will bid’ for West Ham star Bowen
The prospect of West Ham even entertaining Tottenham interest in Bowen to make it four does not bear thinking about as far as supporters are concerned.
They say there is no smoke without fire and Hammers captain Bowen is being linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur for the second season in a row.
Spurs chief Daniel Levy reportedly enquired to David Sullivan about signing Bowen.
The message last year was that Bowen was not for sale after signing a seven-year deal until 2030.
But Sullivan is said to have told Levy he would need to pay £150m to stand any chance.
Tottenham have been heavily linked with Bowen again in recent weeks.
This time the minimum price has dropped to £100m according to sources close to Sullivan.
After a dismal 18 months for West Ham, many pundits and journalists have started the narrative that Bowen may have to leave to help his England ambitions.
Photo by Vince Mignott/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images
Photo by Vince Mignott/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images
Especially after Bowen was left out by Thomas Tuchel, much to West Ham’s anger.
When Tottenham’s interest in Bowen re-emerged recently, it was initially laughed off by West Ham fans.
Because Sullivan and co wouldn’t dare sell the club’s best player and captain to their big rivals, would they?
Especially since there has been an unofficial transfer embargo between the two clubs since a furious boardroom row erupted when Levy pulled the plug on Emmanuel Adebayor’s proposed move from Tottenham to West Ham in 2015.
Money is a big issue in east London this summer due to PSR.
So supporters scoffing at Spurs’ interest in Bowen suddenly didn’t feel so confident when a top Hammers insider, who counts Sullivan as his key club source, delivered an ominous update on the situation recently.
Sean Whetstone revealed Levy has a cunning plan to try and prise Bowen away from West Ham and take him to Tottenham.
Bowen admits his future is in Sullivan’s hands after promise
Whetstone said he had been told Tottenham “will” bid for Bowen this summer to “test West Ham’s resolve”.
And he stated that Levy thinks he can take advantage of West Ham’s precarious financial situation, which means they have no choice but to sell players.
Now Spurs target Bowen has admitted his West Ham future is in Sullivan’s hands after his promise.
After laying on a brilliant assist and scoring an even better goal in the Hammers’ last game of the season, Bowen was asked about the links to Spurs by BBC Sport.
His answer was meant to reassure Hammers.
But his statement will be just as worrying for some West Ham supporters.
Bowen says links to other clubs are inevitable when you are scoring and assisting as he is for the Hammers.
Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images
Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images
Bowen says he will stay at West Ham unless club want to sell him
The 28-year-old made it clear he has no intention of leaving West Ham.
But he admitted it is up to the board, led by Sullivan, if they want to sell him.
And despite the views of some Hammers cynics, that should mean good news for West Ham and bad news for Tottenham.
“You score a couple of goals, transfer window comes around the corner and people are interested in you,” Bowen admitted when asked about links to Tottenham.
“I have been linked a few times in different transfer windows when I have had good seasons.
“I have been here for five, five-and-a-half years now and I have got good numbers in goals and assists so I think that is always going to come.
“But we are sitting here at a club where we have won a European trophy, we have finished in high places, had a Europa League semi-final, so we have had a lot of success as well since I have been here.
“We have had a blip this season and when we won the Conference League I think we finished lower as well, but no-one remembers that because we won the trophy as well.
“This is the first season where we have had no Europe and we have been really poor in the league position, so talk is going to happen.
“But for me, unless the club turned around and said they were selling me then I won’t be going anywhere.”
West Ham double down on Bowen promise
Bowen publicly putting his future in Sullivan’s hands understandably concerns West Ham fans.
Especially as Sullivan sold Rice to a London rival less than two years ago.
But West Ham fans should sleep easy over the daunting prospect of losing their key man to Tottenham – despite the fact they can now offer Champions League football, for one season at least.
Because just six weeks ago West Ham made an emphatic statement about Bowen’s future.
“Let me make this perfectly clear,” the top spokesman for West Ham’s owners told Hammers News last month.
“Jarrod is on a long contract and he is not for sale.”
Better still West Ham have reiterated to Hammers News that ‘nothing has changed’.
And Sullivan would not dare go back on his word over Bowen.