Liverpool greats Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher have given West Ham hope over speculation linking Jarrod Bowen with a summer move to Anfield.
Mohamed Salah has officially announced he is leaving Liverpool at the end of the season and the reverberations are being felt at West Ham.
Liverpool being linked with Hammers captain and talisman Jarrod Bowen is nothing new.
West Ham were always relatively relaxed about the threat of Liverpool In the past.
Carragher and Gerrard say Liverpool won’t want Bowen from West Ham
The move always seemed improbable while Salah was setting the world alight in Bowen’s best position off that right-hand side.
Now Salah has announced he is leaving, though, fresh talk Bowen could leave West Ham for Liverpool carries serious weight.
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West Ham star Jarrod Bowen registered an assist in England's 5-0 win over Latvia
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But in a brutal assessment, Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard have explained why Bowen won’t be leaving West Ham for Liverpool this summer.
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With West Ham in the thick of a relegation battle, there is no hiding the fact Bowen would have to be sold if the Hammers dropped into the Championship.
West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen speaks to referee Darren England
Photo by Kevin Hodgson/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Not least to help pay down the club’s mounting debt in the wake of £104m losses and after a new £196m West Ham finances revelation which means there could be a fire sale this summer.
Since Salah’s announcement, Liverpool have been linked with a plethora of replacements, with Bowen chief among them.
The fact it is Liverpool being linked means West Ham would fear an approach even if they stayed in the Premier League.
But West Ham can rest assured that move won’t be happening if two of the club’s greats are correct.
Bowen ‘too old’ and ‘not at the level’ for Liverpool
Gerrard is a big admirer of Bowen but says he is not of the level required to replace Salah on that right-hand side at Anfield.
“I really like Bowen and think he is a top player, but I am not sure he is Salah’s level to replace him,” Gerrard said on TNT Sports.
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Crysencio Summerville in action during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Manchester United at London Stadium (Photo by Nigel French/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images) Jarrod Bowen applauds the fans after the team's defeat during the Premier League match between Liverpool and West Ham United at Anfield (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images
Carragher was even more cut-throat with his assessment of Bowen leaving West Ham for Liverpool.
The Sky Sports pundit told Stick to Football that Bowen was a Liverpool target when Jurgen Klopp was manager.
But Carragher says Bowen won’t be leaving West Ham for Liverpool, because the 29-year-old is now too old for the Reds as a replacement for Salah.
Former Liverpool legends Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher
Photo by (Photo by Kevork S. Djansezian/GC Images
“No (I cannot see Bowen replacing Salah),” Carragher said.
“He was maybe on Liverpool’s radar under Jurgen Klopp early on.
“But obviously Mo Salah was already there. But no, he’d be too old for Liverpool.”
Ex Liverpool boss Klopp never hid his longstanding admiration for Hammers hero Bowen.
The German even went as far as to publicly admit Bowen was his favourite player outside of Liverpool.
When Liverpool were linked with the Hammers skipper amid rumours over Salah’s future last summer, West Ham’s owners made it clear Bowen wasn’t for sale.
“Let me make this perfectly clear, Jarrod is on a long contract and he is not for sale,” West Ham’s top spokesman exclusively told Hammers News at the time.
Bowen is effectively tied down to West Ham until 2031 and has stated his intention to retire at the club.
It seems Liverpool won’t be dangling a carrot to test that statement.
But relegation undoubtedly would.
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