West Ham United manager David Moyes is personally "determined" to keep one player at the club and talks are "now underway" over an extension.
Freiburg vs West Ham
It's been a promising start to the new season overall for Moyes' Irons side, who have won four out of their opening seven Premier League games and currently sit seventh in the table. Their two losses have come at the hands of possible title contenders Man City and Liverpool, with West Ham tasting victory over big-spenders Chelsea, newly-promoted Luton Town, in-form Brighton and struggling Sheffield United.
Winger Jarrod Bowen and midfielder Tomas Soucek grabbed the goals in a 2-0 win against the Blades last weekend, and Moyes' men are now gearing up for their second Europa League group game against SC Freiburg tonight in Germany. The Bundesliga side, like West Ham, have started the new campaign very brightly; winning three out of a possible six league matches and sitting eighth in their division.
Moyes, speaking to the press before tonight's encounter, has admitted it will be a tough test: "We’re playing against a really good team who have had excellent success in the Bundesliga in the last couple of years and have also done really well in Europe too," said the Scotsman.
"They have a manager who has been in place for a long time and that stability goes a long way. They’ve certainly shown that at this club, they may not be the biggest household name in Germany but they’ve certainly grown as a football club and got themselves in a really good position."
Latest West Ham news
Off the field, sporting director Mark Noble and club chief Tim Steidten are said to be eyeing up a new striker in January, leading to links with the likes of PSG's Hugo Ekitike and Stuttgart striker Serhou Guirassy. At Rush Green, new contracts are reportedly in the offing for a few West Ham stars – such as Vladimir Coufal, Tomas Soucek and Pablo Fornals.
Bowen, who has been a revelation this campaign, could also be rewarded fresh terms with talks "now underway" over a new contract. That is according to journalist Pete O'Rourke, who writes for Football Insider that Moyes is "particularly determined" to keep him at the club and avoid another Declan Rice situation.
West Ham are just as keen to tie Bowen down, so much so that they're prepared to make him one of the club's highest earners.
James Ward-Prowse
£30m
Edson Alvarez
£35.4m
Konstantinos Mavropanos
£20m
Mohammed Kudus
£38m
How good is Jarrod Bowen?
The former Hull City star has already bagged five goals and an assist over West Ham's opening seven league matches this season, highlighting his real quality. Sky pundit Paul Merson, speaking to Sportskeeda recently, also lavished him with praise.
"In fine form," wrote Merson. "I'm a big fan of him and he has shown over the past 12 months that he can step up to the plate in big games, while he works his socks off for his team and is an absolute manager's dream. The only issue for Bowen is that England have too many players in his position, so he might find it hard to break into the side ahead of Euro 2024."
