Moyes says Bowen's new West Ham role reflects on difficult transfer market

04 November 2023 , 05:30

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Jarrod Bowen of West Ham United celebrates after scoring their third goal against Arsenal.

David Moyes believes Jarrod Bowen is moving towards becoming West Ham’s first-choice centre forward because it makes increasing sense to convert wingers into strikers because the market for traditional No9s is so expensive.

Bowen has been used occasionally at the focal point of the East Londoners’ attack, including in Wednesday night’s EFL Cup defeat of Arsenal and last month’s Europa League win away to Freiburg.

And with Michail Antonio, himself a wide player who moved into a central role, turning 34 later this season, Moyes sees England star Bowen as the long-term solution.

“Yeah, definitely. I think we all saw something the other night. Was that the reason we played much better? Maybe,” Moyes said.

“I think we’re all looking at it and saying, we’re needing to keep [evolving]. It’s like with anything else, when you talk about moving managers on or moving players on, you have to keep finding new ways. I’m loathe to say he’s suddenly a No9 because we might need him to play No7 and do the job that he’s doing there. But in time I see it changing for Jarrod, I really do.

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“I actually think Freiburg was probably the night, he was terrific that night in Freiburg and I think that made me feel it. We had a bit of a blip after the international break but the game the other night got us back on track and got us thinking there are other solutions to what we’ve got here.”

Lucas Paqueta and Edson Alvarez are suspended for this afternoon’s trip to Brentford, while Moyes is sweating on captain Kurt Zouma after he took a bang to a knee last weekend.

The absence of two midfield stars will likely see Bowen, who has scored in all five of their away games in the league, return to the flank. Yet after recently signing a deal to remain at West Ham until 2030, the long-term future points to him replicating Marko Arnautovic, who made the same positional switch during Moyes’ first spell at the club.

“Marko became a striker here and was brilliant for us,” Moyes added. “He held the ball up for us, was quick and powerful, had an arrogance about him. He didn't care who he was up against, he'd try and fight them for the ball. He had an attitude that he wanted to score with it.

“If you talk about the money we have spent on strikers, really the best have been brought in from inside. It's nearly a conveyor belt without going to buy one. There's not really been a good market out there. It’s dead easy to say we need a new striker, dead hard to find someone who will work for you immediately.

“It's hard to get exactly what you want, centre forwards especially. That's why I hope if we can't find it Jarrod might help fill the gap going forward."

Alan Smith