David Moyes says he’s hoping new signing Flynn Downes can match the success of England international Jarrod Bowen after the 23-year-old put pen to paper on a five-year deal at the London Stadium this week.
Downes, a lifelong West Ham fan who was born in Brentwood, arrived in east London this week after the Hammers agreed a fee understood to be around £12million with his former side Swansea City for his transfer. The midfielder enjoyed an excellent campaign with the Swans in the Championship last season, leading to several clubs, including Crystal Palace, Southampton, Wolves and West Ham, vying for his signature this summer.
At one stage, it seemed like Palace had won the race for the former England Under-20 international though once Downes was told that his boyhood club had made an offer for him, his mind and heart were set. Speaking to the Irons’ club website after signing, he admitted he’d have turned down any club - including Champions League holders Real Madrid - in order to secure a move to the Hammers.
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Moyes, who along with his scouting and analysis teams at West Ham has been a long-time admirer of Downes, said upon the midfielder's arrival that he hoped he could replicate the success of Bowen, who trod the same path of joining the club from the Championship when he joined the club from Hull City in 2020.
Bowen slowly embedded himself into Moyes' starting XI and, after scoring eight goals in his first full campaign for the club, finished as the team's top scorer last season with 18 goals as well as 13 assists in 50 games for the Hammers. Senior international recognition followed, with Bowen making his England debut against Hungary last month before appearing off the bench against Germany, Italy and Hungary in the UEFA Nations League.
None of that is lost on Downes, who singled out Bowen's rise to the top and development at West Ham as one of the key reasons for him joining. He said: "Players have come to West Ham from the Championship and progressed to international honours. That's something you can't ignore. The manager's track record of bringing players through was a big motivation in me joining the club.
"Players have come here like Jarrod, come from the Championship, gone to West Ham and gone on and on. He's now playing for England, and that's what I want to do. I want to follow in those footsteps. That's another thing that drew me to this club – I love it anyway, but that pushed me even more. I just want to get out there, play games and show what I can do."
And Moyes clearly sees the similarities between Downes and Bowen, too, referring to his current star player when commenting on the arrival of the Hammers' newest signing. Speaking to the club's website, the Scottish coach said: "We are pleased to have signed Flynn and are looking forward to bringing him into the group. We think he's got good energy. We think he's got a lot of things which we have about our team, which we would want to keep and want to add to. I'm looking forward to it.
"We brought Jarrod Bowen from a similar situation at Hull, so we're always trying to find boys from the Championship who we think are going to step up to become Premier League players. I'm hoping that Flynn does. I think there's a good chance as he's got an awful lot of good attributes."
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