Former Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce says he came close to signing winger Jarrod Bowen shortly before his move to West Ham United.
Bruce knows Bowen well, having worked with him at Hull City prior to his stint at St James’ Park. Plucked out of non-league as a teenager, Bowen went on to score 54 goals in 131 appearances for the Championship side before getting his big-money move to the top-flight.
Over half of the top-flight were credited in interest following his form for the Tigers, with West Ham signing the now four-time England international for a fee of £18million, rising to £24million in add-ons.
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Of the other sides linked, Newcastle were among the strongest and their former boss Bruce has now revealed how close the club came to signing Bowen in January 2020.
“The big one I missed on at Newcastle was Jarrod Bowen who we’d actually signed at Hull from Hereford for about £50,000,” Bruce told the Die For Three Points podcast. “I watched him come through, great kid.
“I had him parked in the service station on the M1 waiting to see if we had the permission, to see if I could scramble the funds to make it happen but I couldn’t get the money together and he went to West Ham instead.”
Since making the move to West Ham, he has made 129 appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring 32 goals including 18 in all competitions during the 2021/22 season, making him the club’s top scorer in a year where the Hammers reached the Europa League semi-finals and finished seventh in the Premier League.
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