- Everton are reportedly readying a £20m offer for West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen
- West Ham have dismissed the figure as “laughable” and insist Bowen will stay
- Read Everton has now covered this story enough times to qualify for a testimonial
Full disclosure: this website has written about Jarrod Bowen joining Everton so many times that we are fairly sure our search bar now autowrites “Bowen” before you’ve typed the B.
We’ve already told you that David Moyes wants him. We have told you to ignore sentiment. We have told you about the £20m “ploy”, the “laughable” response, and at one stage, we were one source away from running a piece on potential Dani Dyer Merseyside property renovations.
So, in the interest of journalistic self-awareness, let’s actually ask the question: Is this transfer happening?
The case for it happening
There’s no doubting the ‘romantic’ link. Moyes signed Bowen for £20.5m back in 2020 and turned him into a Hammers icon, club captain and Conference League winner. West Ham’s relegation to the Championship has, in theory, loosened their grip on the player, and Everton will need a wide forward if, as has been suggested by many sources, Iliman Ndiaye departs this summer.
Bowen, still only 29, produced 20 goal involvements in a relegated side last season, so based on output, experience and pedigree, he is exactly the calibre of signing Moyes would want. Regardless of the reunion aspect.
The case against it
But here’s the problem: West Ham don’t sound like a club desperate to sell. Their description of Everton’s £20m valuation as “laughable” tells the story, and new owner Daniel Kretinsky has made clear the Hammers no longer need to offload their best asset purely to balance the books.
Bowen also has four years left on his contract, meaning West Ham hold significant leverage, even when in the Championship.
And then there’s competition. Newcastle have been credited with interest, and Everton’s transfer priority list is already crowded with Jack Grealish’s future and several other targets, like Hayden Hackney. Something will have to give, and it may not be Bowen.
So, realistically?
Put it this way… if this deal collapses, Read Everton’s published word count on it will probably already exceed the transfer fee. But the interest is genuine, and the footballing logic is sound. Yet the huge chasm between Everton’s valuation and West Ham’s own is the kind of thing that turns transfers into sagas and which lasts for weeks, not days.
Our honest verdict: more likely than not to end in disappointment, or, at best, a deal struck for closer to £30m-plus once West Ham extract every pound possible.
Bowen-to-Everton remains a story with legs – mostly because we, and seemingly every other Everton site, keep giving it more of them.
We’ll see. But all good fun.
C’mon Jarrod. You know it makes sense.
