Liverpool
Premier League • England
Liverpool transfer target given glowing report from West Ham coach Pearce
West Ham coach Stuart Pearce has given Liverpool transfer target Jarrod Bowen a glowing report and compared him to Mo Salah.
Bowen, a £20m recruit from Hull City in January 2020, has developed into a reliable Premier League player. And this season the 25-year-old has scored nine goals and hit 10 assists in all competitions. His goal tally does not quite compare with Egypt star Salah, but Pearce believes there are similarities in their games.
So it’s no surprise that Liverpool have been linked with the attacker over the last six months.
In fact, according to Football Insider, Liverpool scouted Bowen – not for the first time – earlier this month. He scored both of West Ham’s goals as they beat Norwich 2-0 in the Premier League. And Jurgen Klopp’s backroom staff cannot have failed to have been impressed with the Hereforshire-born forward.
Pearce is also well aware of the qualities of Bowen, who has now scored 18 goals in 84 West Ham appearances.
Pearce told talkSPORT: “The comparisons between him and probably Mo Salah, the way Mo Salah finishes where he stands the defender up and stops him and then goes again or uses the defender, you use the defender to curl the ball around into that far corner.
“And I think its just picking up a few comparisons that can help Jarrod with his game a little bit.
“Starting a run then stopping it, killing a defender in his tracks then going again. Little things like that, that’s why I think he still has more to come from his game.
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“Good thing with him, he’s got two really good feet, and the last goal he scored was with his head and he’s got a really good leap on him as well.
“So all-round he can score with his head or both feet which is a sign of a decent striker and he’s played up front for us as well which has been a real bonus for us as a team.”
Salah future
Salah’s future at Liverpool remains unclear.
The 29-year-old is out of contract in 2023, but he has made it clear he wants to stay at Anfield. However, there has been no movement in the talks over extending his deal despite Salah claiming: “They know what I want. I’m not asking for crazy stuff.”
Liverpool’s owners refused to bow to pressure from Georginio Wijnaldum last season. Then 30, Wijnaldum was chasing a contract extension, but FSG allowed his contract to run down. And he went tom sign for PSG on a free transfer.
That would be unlikely to happen to Salah. But if a new contract was not forthcoming then his sale in the summer would be a necessity so that he did not leave on a free transfer in 2023.
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