West Ham are unsure when Jarrod Bowen will return from a foot injury and are worried the winger could miss their Europa League quarter-final against Lyon next month.
Bowen has not played since going off against Liverpool early this month and the club’s medical staff fear the injury is more serious than it appeared initially. Scans have indicated the 25-year-old has a fractured bone in his foot and West Ham, who host Lyon in the first leg on 7 April and travel to France for the return game a week later, are struggling to identify the cause of the problem.
West Ham had been optimistic that Bowen, who has scored 12 goals and provided 11 assists in all competitions this season, would make a swift return. There were hopes he would make it back to face Sevilla last Thursday and the initial assumption was the former Hull forward had not suffered any significant damage.
However, Bowen was absent again when West Ham lost 3-1 at Tottenham on Sunday, further denting their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League, and David Moyes does not know when the injury will clear up.
West Ham will need others to step up in the absence of one of their most influential attackers. Michail Antonio has not scored in the Premier League since New Year’s Day and was criticised by Moyes after being taken off after 56 minutes against Spurs.
Moyes also needs more from Nikola Vlasic. The Croatia playmaker has taken a while to adapt to English football since his £25.7m move from CSKA Moscow last summer and, despite Bowen’s absence, Vlasic was restricted to a six-minute cameo at Tottenham.
