Bowen: As long as West Ham get back to the PL, I don’t care how we do it

When West Ham were relegated from the Premier League after 15 years back in May, it seemed inevitable Jarrod Bowen would not be there to join them as they returned to the Sky Bet Championship.

The Hammers captain had done all he could to try and keep them up; he had started every game and played the entirety of all but two, scoring nine goals and providing 11 assists.

Speculation about where his future might lie was rife. After six-and-a-half seasons in the top flight, could he really return to the second tier and pass up the potential opportunity to play European football again?

That question was answered emphatically on July 17 when Bowen adjusted his current deal to ensure he is committed to the club for 2026/27, though the length of the contract remains the same, expiring in 2030.

West Ham lost key players Mateus Fernandes and Crysencio Summerville this summer, but their talisman remains to spearhead the bid for an immediate return to the Premier League.

‘No one needed to sell this club to me’

“I was asked about my future after we were relegated and it was about making the right decision for myself,” the 29-year-old tells Sky Sports.

“I thought of it as what’s going to be the biggest ‘what if?’ when I retire? There’s going to be ‘what ifs’ whatever you do, but it was going to be that one that would nag away at me for years and years to come.

“I knew I had to give it a go to get this club back into the Premier League. That was the overriding factor.

“There were different talks, there were different chances of me leaving, so it wasn’t a decision that was made overnight. It was something I had to sit down and think about for myself because football is so intense and full-on week in, week out.

“I’m sure there’s lots being said about decisions, but it’s about me, it’s about what I want, what I think’s best for my career.”

Bowen visited Daniel Kretinsky – West Ham’s largest shareholder – in Prague over the summer. “No one needs to sell the club to me. It was just an honest conversation about what we want to do as a club moving forward,” Bowen says.

He insists his wife Dani Dyer and father-in-law Danny Dyer – both diehard West Ham fans – did not influence his decision either. “They are never going to be in my ear saying ‘I think you should stay or I think you should go’.”

“I’ve come on leaps and bounds as a person and a player since I’ve been here,” he adds.

“I just love playing football, scoring goals and working hard for the team all the time. The fans have felt a connection to me, I’ve felt a connection to the fans and it’s just been right. That’s the most important thing.

“Sometimes, things can feel forced and not real, but for me everything has felt real. We’ve had some really great moments and I’ve loved every minute.”

‘I felt like I deserved to be in England’s World Cup squad’

Bowen’s form throughout 2025/26 was electric. In 42 games in all competitions, he scored 11 goals and provided 12 assists, averaging one goal involvement every other game.

Thomas Tuchel was aware and, in his first 12 games in charge of England, he played Bowen on eight occasions.

But when the squad for the 2026 World Cup was announced on May 22, Bowen’s name was missing from the list.

“Don’t get me wrong, it was difficult. OK, we got relegated, but as an individual, I felt like I contributed well. We didn’t do well and maybe that went against me,” he continued.

“It was difficult to watch to begin with because I felt like I deserved to be there. Anyone in the same situation would be saying the same thing.

“That weekend was the worst a footballer could have in terms of missing out on the England squad on the Friday, then getting relegated on Sunday. It was a very tough weekend, but I’m stood here fit, healthy and ready to go again for another season.

“Even if I’d gone to the World Cup, I would’ve been ready. Over the years, touch wood, I’ve been lucky with injuries. I look after myself well, try and do the right things, try to get the right balance of training and then having my time with my family.”

‘As long as we get promoted, I don’t care how we do it’

Bowen may have been a consistent performer at the top level for many years now, but he’s no stranger to the division he’s about to play in.

Before the move to West Ham, he spent two-and-a-half seasons in the Championship with Hull, scoring 52 goals and providing 12 assists in 117 games.

“I’ve experienced the Championship and it’s such a competitive league. I remember when I was at Hull, we were doing well in the league and you’d go to a side bottom of the league and they turn you over. It’s one of the toughest leagues to get out of because it’s so demanding, so physical.

“What we need to do as a team is have that winning mentality, understanding what it takes to win games. We have a manager who’s been with the squad for nearly a year, who understands the club, who understands the fans and how it works.

“We’ve got a real togetherness as a group and that’s an important thing. We’ve had a lot of change in the last two or three years, with managers and players, which can happen, but sticking with the manager we had from last season will really stand us in good stead.”

Bowen isn’t set on winning the league or going up automatically. Just going straight back up, by any means, will do.

“The worst thing I think you can do as a club is try and walk into this league and think ‘we’re the biggest side, we’re going to go straight up’. It doesn’t happen like that. It’s not as easy and just turning up and thinking ‘we’re better, we’re going to win’. That’s nowhere near the case.

“You’re playing Saturday-Tuesday, you’re not going to play at your best every single week and you have to win in different kinds of ways. You just have to go again, go again, go again and that’s got to be the mindset of us as a group.

“Of course we want to be dominant and assert our dominance in this league, but we have to earn the right to do that as well. We have to respect the league we are coming into because we’ve seen many sides think they can bounce back straight away and it’s not happened that way.

“I’d love to sit here in a year’s time and say we’ve won the league, but as long as we’re in the Premier League, I couldn’t care how we do it.”

‘My ambition is to get West Ham back to the PL – I’m not thinking beyond that’

Bowen’s contract has four years left to run, but The Athletic have reported a release clause has been inserted into the deal, which will kick in next summer, if West Ham fail to seal an immediate return to the Premier League.

Conversely, he will reportedly receive a significant bonus if the Hammers do win promotion.

For now, he is looking no further than the season ahead.

“You never know what’s going to happen in football, but my dream, my ambition, is to get this club back to the Premier League,” adds Bowen.

“When you start looking years in advance, you’re not focused on what you want to do this season. I’ve made my decision to stay because I’m focused on the now. I’m living in the present, not years to come.

“In my head, we’re going to make this happen. If that doesn’t happen, you reassess it in a year’s time.”

West Ham’s first five Championship games

• August 16: Burnley (A) – Live on Sky Sports
• August 22: Charlton (H)
• August 29: Watford (A)
• September 1: Wolves (H)
• September 5: Derby (H)

How many of my EFL team’s fixtures will be live on Sky?

Every Championship, League One and League Two team will be featured live on Sky more than 20 times in the 2026/27 season.

The EFL is at the heart of Sky Sports+ coverage and will see over 1,000 games from 1,891 matches across the EFL, Carabao Cup and EFL Trophy broadcast live throughout the season.