Jarrod Bowen: the road back to the stars

English football's second tier has always been known for physical teams, limited quality and the nerve of a chihuahua facing a French bulldog. In that oasis of reasons that confirm the stereotypes there are exceptions, born of the huge sums English clubs move. West Ham went down last season, 18th in the Premier League with 39 points. A historic London club that restarted with a single goal: to return to where it has always belonged, the top flight. After a turbulent window, not so different from previous years at Premier League clubs, one player decided to stay at the club that gave him the chance to become one of the best English footballers of the moment. And yes. We are talking about Jarrod Bowen.

Since his move to the Premier League in January 2020, after a spectacular spell at Hull City (22 goals in 46 Championship games in 2018-19 and another 16, with seven assists, in the 29 he played before his transfer), Jarrod Bowen has improved year after year to become the player he is today.

Dreadful management at the historic London club and a loyalty rarely seen in the 21st century have dragged him below the elite of British football. But the English forward is not willing to settle for flashes of his past. Jarrod Bowen has shown time and again that he is not just a player of moments: he is a serial killer. A footballer who turns up when he is needed.

Not just a player of moments: a serial killer

In the Championship he proves it every week. He has seven goals and seven assists in 14 matchdays, so he has been involved in 14 of West Ham's 36 goals, the highest-scoring team in the division. At Bolton he scores the first and the 77th-minute winner for 2-3. And this Wednesday, at Cardiff, 3-0 down at half-time, he sets up the 3-1 for Mukasa and the 3-3 for Kilman. Even so, West Ham are eighth, three points off the play-offs and five off automatic promotion, in a 46-matchday league in which third to sixth fight for the last place in a final at Wembley.

The data back it up. His Big Data Rating is 79, the highest in the Championship, with percentiles of 93 in creation and 91 in finishing among wingers across the 37 leagues we analyse: he is 14th of 1,002. And his market value, by our estimate, is €46 million. A second-tier player in England who, at 29, is worth €46 million.

Jarrod Bowen, the highest rating in the Championship

Some players are recommended by big data for big clubs, but the equation misses key conditions for whether they succeed in that context. The reality is that it is hard to imagine a player from the English second tier becoming a Premier League star at a Big Six club. We are completely convinced that he would not only succeed at any club in the English game's most privileged tier, but would become one of the men Thomas Tuchel would consider to make the boy from Leominster one of the key pieces of his system. This Friday the England manager named his squad to host Croatia at Wembley and visit Spain, and Bowen was not among those chosen to defend the Three Lions in this international break. But I am sure that, despite the fierce competition on that right flank, the left-footed winger will be one of England's key players at the next European Championship.

Seneca wrote in Hercules Furens that "there is no easy way from the earth to the stars". He did not write it for Bowen, but he did write it to describe the hard road of a hero who dreams of touching the sky.

Data: API-Football, 26/27 season up to 05/11/2026 (Championship and cup) and earlier seasons. Big Data Rating and percentiles: Al Primer Toque, against wingers across the 37 leagues we analyse, with the league coefficient; "the highest in the Championship", among the league's 341 outfield players with a sufficient sample. Sample: 1,418 minutes in 26/27 (1,250 in the league and 168 in the cup) plus the 25/26 Premier League (3,405 minutes). Market value: our own estimate. Goals and assists in each game: API-Football events. Table: API-Football, after matchday 14. Quote: Seneca, *Hercules Furens, line 437 ("non est ad astra mollis e terris via"). Hull City 2018-19 and 2019-20: API-Football. Birthplace: Wikidata. Sources: contract until 2030 and renewal after relegation, Sky Sports (2023) and Sky Sports (2026); England squad of 06/11/2026 (without Bowen) and games against Croatia (12/11, Wembley) and Spain (15/11), The Mag (06/11/2026) and Yahoo Sports (06/11/2026).*