Bowen to stay at West Ham for Championship tilt
Jarrod Bowen's future at West Ham United was in major doubt after its relegation from the Premier League, but the club captain has decided to stay on and fight for promotion back to the top tier from the EFL Championship.
The Hammers failed to retain its Premier League status on the final day of last season, as Tottenham Hotspur's win over Everton instead kept Roberto De Zerbi's side in the top flight.
West Ham wa relegated from the Premier League for the first time since 2010-2011, with its 39 points the most by a side to go down since both Birmingham City and Blackpool went down on 39, also in 2010-2011.
Bowen was linked with the likes of Aston Villa and Everton this summer, but he has now committed his future to his boyhood club ahead of its EFL Championship campaign.
"That weekend, obviously we went down and then I missed out on the [2026 FIFA] World Cup [with England] so, in terms of a weekend, it probably couldn’t have gone any worse as a footballer in a career, but that’s just sometimes the hand that football plays you," the 29-year-old said.
"I did an interview after the game and said my vision is to get this club back in the Premier League.
"Sometimes you think it falls on deaf ears and people say; ‘he’s just saying that’.
"There have been things written, and different things said, and you have to look at it and bite your tongue sometimes.
"But when I say something, I don’t hide away from it. For me, the main thing is to get this club back into the Premier League and speak to people in the club about what we want to do moving forward as a club for the better of the club.
"It was a no-brainer for me to be here, and the vision is clear, it’s the Premier League."
West Ham's promotion bid will start with a trip to fellow relegated side Burnley on 17 August (AEST), after Portsmouth visits London Stadium in the Carabao Cup on 9 August (AEST).
