West Ham United are not doing well at the moment, but they have a very good squad and there is one player in particular that Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe is concerned about.
After the two-week international break which had a number of Newcastle players on national team duty, the Magpies will return to Premier League action on Monday evening against West Ham.
Newcastle will head into the match against West Ham at St. James’ Park as favourites. Paul Merson thinks that Magpies will win easily.
Howe, though, is not taking things for granted. Speaking ahead of the game against the Hammers, he made a note of the quality attacking players they have.
What Eddie Howe thinks of Jarrod Bowen ahead of Newcastle vs West Ham
The Newcastle manager picked Jarrod Bowen as the West Ham player to watch out for. The 27-year-old winger was on international duty with England.
Bowen has scored three goals and provided two assists in 11 Premier League matches for West Ham this season. The winger found the back of the net 16 times and provided six assists in the league in the 2023-24 campaign.
Howe said: “They (West Ham) are always difficult games against West Ham. They always have been for us. Historically, they are a team of very good players.
“In the summer, they recruited well. I think they have got a good squad, they’ve got some really dangerous players especially in the frontline.
“Obviously, it was interesting watching Jarrod Bowen score for England. He is always a goal threat. They’ve got some attacking players that we respect and we are going to have to get our structures right to keep them quiet.”
Steve Bruce wanted to sign Jarrod Bowen for Newcastle
Steve Bruce was the Newcastle manager between 2019 and 2021, and he was keen on a deal for Bowen.
Bruce revealed in January 2023 that when Bowen was still at Hull City, he wanted to bring him to Newcastle.
Now in charge of Blackpool, Bruce managed the England international winger at Hull and actually signed him from Hereford United.
The former Newcastle manager said about Bowen on the Die For Three Points podcast: “I watched him come through, great kid. I had him parked in the service station on the M1 waiting to see if we had the permission, to see if I could scramble the funds to make it happen but I couldn’t get the money together and he went to West Ham instead.”
Bowen himself thought he was going to sign for Newcastle. But the winger eventually ended up at West Ham instead because Newcastle did not pay the transfer fee needed.
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