Michael Owen Calls Jarrod Bowen the Perfect Replacement for Salah at Liverpool
Michael Owen believes Liverpool have already been handed the “absolute perfect” solution to life after Mohamed Salah – and his answer is standing in a relegated West Ham side.
Jarrod Bowen, West Ham’s captain and talisman, has just seen his club tumble out of the Premier League. His own stock, though, has gone the other way. Nine goals, eleven assists, and a season spent dragging a struggling team up the pitch have only sharpened the sense that he is operating above the level his club will now play at.
Jurgen Klopp admired him. Scouts have followed him. The links to Anfield have never fully gone away. Now, with West Ham facing the Championship, the conversation has moved from theory to opportunity.
Owen, speaking on Premier League Productions, did not bother to dress it up.
“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,” he said, acknowledging the emotional pull that ties Bowen to east London.
If anyone might stay and fight after relegation, it is usually the local hero, the one who wears the armband and the burden. Owen can see that side of it. Then he cuts straight to the reality of a short career.
“However, Jarrod Bowen is incredible, you’ve got a short career, I mean he has to be playing in the Premier League.
If something really, really interesting [is offered], 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.”
That is the crux of it. Liverpool have lost Salah, the defining right-sided forward of their modern era, and must decide what the next iteration of their attack looks like. Bowen, a left-footed right winger who presses aggressively, runs relentlessly and delivers numbers, fits the template in more ways than one.
For Owen, if Liverpool come calling, the argument is simple.
“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. 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.
“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.”
That is the fork in the road: one path to Anfield or another elite dressing room, the other to midweek trips in the Championship, trying to drag West Ham back at the first attempt.
Bowen, for now, is not playing that game in public.
‘My vision is…’
Relegation was confirmed on Sunday afternoon. Emotions were raw. When Bowen was asked about his future, he pushed the conversation away from transfers and back towards the club that made him captain.
“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 declarations. No transfer hints. Just a firm message about where his head is, at least in public.
He went further, underlining how much West Ham still means to him.
“Like I said, it’s disrespectful to everyone to start speaking about futures and saying what’s going to happen.
“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.”
Those words will land well in the stands at London Stadium. They also set up a summer of tension. Bowen’s loyalty is not in doubt; his level is. A player producing his output, with his engine and versatility, does not usually spend his prime outside the top flight.
Liverpool, reshaping their attack in the post-Salah era, must decide whether Owen’s “perfect” fit is worth testing that loyalty. If they do, the next move in Bowen’s career will say plenty about both his ambition and West Ham’s ability to hold on in the Championship storm.
