Michael Owen has floated the name of the player who he’d most like to see Liverpool acquire this summer - and it’s not who Arne Slot reportedly has in mind.
The new era in Anfield has not exactly gotten off to a fast start, with Liverpool standing as the only Premier League side yet to make a transfer this summer. As for what Slot and Co. should do as their first big splash in charge of the Reds, Owen argued that West Ham star Jarrod Bowen would be a perfect fit.
“The Mo Salah chat has sort of faded a little bit so I'd be surprised if he left Liverpool, but the problem for the club is that he hasn’t got long left on his contract so you have to make a decision one way or the other,” the club legend said, per Prime Casino .
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“They have great options at the moment with Luis Diaz , Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez , but if one of them left then Jarrod Bowen would be my favourite.”
Amid rumours circulating earlier this year that Salah could depart Anfield in favour of Saudi Arabia, reports at the time suggested Liverpool were interested in signing Bowen in the summer. Former Reds boss Jurgen Klopp routinely expressed his interest in the 27-year-old, stating last December: “Bowen is probably my favourite player besides all my players I have to say. It’s great what he is doing and how he has developed.”
It remains to be seen if Liverpool’s new regime shares a similarly high opinion of Bowen, who finished as West Ham’s top scorer with 16 goals in 34 Premier League starts. Given his star status and age, Owen expressed uncertainty about whether he’d be available or even fit in Slot’s plans.
“He has signed a long-term contract at West Ham and he might even be their captain,” the former Liverpool striker said of Bowen. “He also isn’t 19 so when you talk about a long-term replacement, you’re looking at players that might give you 10 years and not be in their 30s in two or three years.
“I’m not sure clubs want to spend 10s and 10s of millions on those players nowadays.”
As of late, Liverpool has been heavily linked to Takefusa Kubo - not Bowen - with multiple reports from outlets in Japan suggesting the Reds are willing to fork over $71million (£55million/€65million) to obtain the Japanese winger’s talents.
Just as speculation surrounding a Liverpool-Kubo union reached a fever pitch, however, Real Sociedad president Jokin Aperribay pushed back on the idea that the 23-year-old would be leaving. "There is no issue. There are no negotiations with any club," he said, per Mundo Deportivo . "We're in the market, anything can happen, but Take is very happy at Real and he's going to continue.
"We love Kubo very much, let's hope he stays at Real forever.”
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