Jarrod Bowen certainly signed off in style as West Ham United’s difficult 2024/25 Premier League campaign ended with something of approaching a cheer.
A goal in each of his final four games.
After Aaron Wan-Bissaka assisted Jarrod Bowen’s equaliser against Tottenham Hotspur in the London derby, the West Ham United captain ended their 17-year wait for a win at Old Trafford before lashing home a 20-yard stunner in the 3-1 victory away to Ipswich Town.
Had West Ham’s Goal of the Season award not already been handed out – given to Emerson Palmieri for his free-kick consolation in a 5-2 defeat by Arsenal – Jarrod Bowen probably would have had another individual accolade to add to his claret-and-blue collection.
After watching the England international run rings around his already-relegated backline, meanwhile, Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna labelled Bowen one of the world’s best.
Now, despite ending his own campaign with a similarly eye-catching flourish, the chance to establish himself amongst the planet’s finest forwards has long since passed Albian Ajeti by.
But, half a decade on from his goalless, 12-game stint at the London Stadium, a centre-forward who drowned in the choppy waters of English football is emerging once again as a very big fish in a much smaller pond.
Photo by Daniela Porcelli/Getty Images
Photo by Daniela Porcelli/Getty Images
West Ham United flop Albian Ajeti caps dream month with Basel
Xherdan Shaqiri was the name on everybody’s lips as FC Basel ended their eight-year wait for a Swiss Super League title.
The former Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan and, erm, Stoke City winger rolled back the years in a remarkable individual campaign which saw him break the 20-barrier for both goals and assists.
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Shaqiri, though, is not the only one-time Premier League benchwarmer with a winners’ medal around his neck and a place in Basel folklore secured.
Albian Ajeti set Basel on their way during that title-securing 5-2 victory over Lugano a fortnight ago. A goal, a league triumph and a red card – Ajeti was sent off for a flailing arm shortly after cancelling out Lugano’s opener – he cycled through the entire spectrum of human emotions in the space of just 24 hours.
Basel made much lighter work of FC Lucerne as the curtain fell on their 2024/25 Super League season on Saturday, however. Ajeti opened the scoring with a brilliant touch and volley – his fifth goal in four matches across May – and this time exited proceedings to a standing ovation.
Subbed off, with 65 minutes on the clock, rather than sent off.
Ajeti avoids summer release after Swiss Super League success
As the flares turned the banks of the Rhine a deep shade of blood red, as players and fans hit the streets and as the trophy was thrust high into the night sky, Albian Ajeti’s day would get even more joyous still.
“[I am feeling] an incredible number of emotions,” an enraptured Ajeti told reporters after the news broke of his three-year contract extension, the former Sturm Graz, Augsburg and Celtic poacher saving himself from a summer release after a end-of-season flurry even Jarrod Bowen could not match.