According to the Sun, Fulham and Cardiff City are chasing Hull City winger Jarrod Bowen ahead of the January transfer window to boost their chances of survival in the Premier League.
Reports claim that Hull City rate their prodigy at £5million but manager Nigel Adkins might not let Bowen leave in January as the Tigers are currently placed 19th in the Championship standings and losing him would deal a great blow to their hopes of survival.
Bowen started his career at non-league club Hereford United at the age of 16 before making his move to Hull City back in 2014. The 21-year-old was the star performer for the Tigers last season where he scored 15 goals across all competitions.
And Bowen has hit the ground running this term as well, registering 6 goals and 3 assists from 21 appearances in the Championship. The 21-year-old has been the brightest spark of Hull’s otherwise lacklustre campaign in the second tier this season.
Standing at 5ft. 9 inches, Bowen has just the perfect height for a winger, which allows him to use his low centre of gravity to good effect. Blessed with a good technique, the youngster has shown exceptional close control in tight areas along the flanks this season.
He combines his lightning pace and dribbling skills with his instant acceleration, sharpness and agility to beat the opposition’s full-backs and wreak havoc through the defences.
Essentially an inverted-winger down the right, Bowen has a sweet left foot that is not only capable of beating the defenders with subtle changes of direction but also has the ability to find the net with curling efforts from the edge of the box.
While he is adept at using his pace and skills to cut inside and have a crack at goal, Bowen is also a decent crosser of the ball and creates chances from the sidelines with accurate pull-backs. Furthermore, he has shown that his decision-making in the final third is better than most of the young players in the same mould and he definitely has the talent to make a name for himself in the Premier League.
To put things into perspective, Jarrod Bowen would be an ideal signing for both Fulham and Cardiff but the Cottagers should aim to have the final say in this transfer saga to improve their chances of avoiding the drop.
Fulham made a bright start to life under Claudio Ranieri with a 3-2 win over Southampton but they once again lost momentum with defeats at the hands of Chelsea and Manchester United. The Cottagers currently sit rock-bottom of the standings and they will have to produce nothing short of a miracle to avoid the drop this season.
Fulham spent a fortune in the summer to bolster their attack and made the headlines with the mega-money signings of Aleksandr Mitrovic, Jean Michael Seri and Andre Schurrle. However, the Cottagers have only managed to find the net on 16 occasions in 16 games.
In all honesty, the overreliance on Mitrovic to score goals every week has backfired. Fulham need a plan ‘B’ when Mitrovic does not fire and someone like Bowen can add that impetus to the attack from the wide areas.
That said, the Cottagers should go all out to land the promising youngster in January as he ticks all the boxes to help them in their bid for survival.