Michael Owen Advocates for Liverpool to Sign Jarrod Bowen as Salah Replacement
Michael Owen believes Liverpool have already been handed the ideal answer to life after Mohamed Salah – and his name is Jarrod Bowen.
The former Liverpool striker has long championed the West Ham captain, and with the Hammers now relegated from the Premier League, the conversation around Bowen’s future has moved from hypothetical to urgent.
Klopp’s old favourite back on the radar
Jurgen Klopp made no secret of his admiration for Bowen during his time at Anfield. Liverpool’s recruitment team tracked the winger for years, weighing up his numbers, his work rate, his aggression off the ball. The links never quite turned into a bid, but the interest never really went away either.
Now the landscape has changed. West Ham are heading for the Championship. Bowen, 27, has just finished a standout campaign in a struggling side, producing nine goals and eleven assists. Those are serious returns in a relegated team, the kind of output that usually buys a player a ticket back to the top flight.
“I’ve said for a long time, I don’t make any apologies, Mo Salah has gone now from Liverpool, I think Bowen is the absolute perfect replacement for Mo Salah at Liverpool,” he said.
Short career, big decision
Owen understands the emotional pull. Bowen is West Ham through and through, the captain, the local hero, adored in the stands and in the dressing room. That loyalty, Owen admits, might keep him in claret and blue when many others would walk away.
“Under normal circumstances, no. But he is such a West Ham lad, he’s the captain, he’s adored by the club, his family are all from the area,” Owen said. “If there’s any big player that is going to be relegated and stick with it then you can see it.”
Then came the reality check.
“However, Jarrod Bowen is incredible, you’ve got a short career, I mean he has to be playing in the Premier League,” Owen continued. “If something really, really interesting is offered… If an opportunity came along for him like that, to play for Liverpool, then even the most ardent West Ham fan couldn’t begrudge that.”
That is the crux of it. Stay and scrap for promotion, or jump now to a club fighting for titles and Champions League nights.
“Instead of playing in the Championship, go to one of the best teams in the world and fill Mo Salah’s boots, it’s really exciting for him,” Owen said. “However, if an opportunity doesn’t come from one of the big boys like that, then maybe he’ll fight his way back into the Premier League with West Ham.”
Bowen’s stance: loyalty first
If Owen is already sketching out Bowen in red, the player himself is not entertaining that picture in public.
Relegation had barely sunk in when Bowen was asked about his future on Sunday. His answer was firm, and pointedly respectful.
“Listen, it’s still very, very raw. Talking about futures is disrespectful to the club, the fans, everything like that,” he replied. “This club deserves to be in the Premier League. That’s our aim now, this season is done, our aim now is to get back in the Premier League. That’s as simple as it is.”
No talk of clauses. No hint of a push to leave. Just a vow to drag West Ham back up.
He doubled down when pressed again.
“Like I said, it’s disrespectful to everyone to start speaking about futures and saying what’s going to happen,” Bowen added. “Like I said, I want this club to be in the Premier League. It’s a club that means so much to me, that’s given me so much, so my vision is getting this club back in the Premier League.”
Liverpool’s question, West Ham’s fear
So the stage is set. A relegated captain with Premier League numbers. A Liverpool side searching for a new right-sided talisman in the post-Salah era. A fanbase that already knows his name and a former Anfield great calling him “absolute perfect” for the role.
For now, Bowen talks only of West Ham and the climb back. The loyalty is genuine. The affection is real.
But if Liverpool pick up the phone and ask him to walk into Salah’s old position at Anfield, how long can emotion hold out against the pull of the elite?
