‘Ambition’ is a word which has appeared pretty regularly at West Ham United after Daniel Kretinsky assumed control. It was also a word Jarrod Bowen used while confirming his decision to stay at the London Stadium.
On Friday lunchtime, Bowen announced he would be emulating Sir Trevor Brooking, Alvin Martin, Mark Noble and some of the greatest legends in Hammers history.
Like Brooking in 1978, like Martin in 1989 and Noble in 2011, not even relegation could keep Jarrod Bowen away from his beloved West Ham United.
The captain STAYS! How big of a coup is this for West Ham? 🥳
Retaining the services of their talismanic skipper, meanwhile, represents another almighty tick next to the name of Daniel Kretinsky.
Jarrod Bowen confirms he is staying at West Ham United
The Czech billionaire has given renewed hope to Hammers fans who feared that the only way was down under David Sullivan.
Kretinsky injected £90 million into the club to ease those financial concerns, he refused any temptation to sell off West Ham’s top assets for cheap [coaxing £85 million out of Tottenham for Mateus Fernandes], and also put control of recruitment in the hands of a genuine expert in Nils Koppen.
West Ham are finally operating like a modern, forward-thinking institution.
Convincing Bowen to spend one of the prime years of his career in the Championship, though, is Kretinsky’s most popular move yet.
“I was with the family, went on holiday and went back to my hometown of Hereford and that’s it really, just switching off, being away from it,” Bowen tells the club’s official website amid claims that he has extended his contract until 2030.
“We obviously had a difficult season, difficult circumstances, so I think it’s important to have that time away with the people who are around you and who have been there for a long, long time in difficult times and just try and get on with life as normal as possible.
“Obviously we went down and then I missed out on the World Cup [at the end of May] so, in terms of a weekend, it probably couldn’t have gone any worse as a footballer in a career. But that’s just sometimes the hand that football plays you.
“For me, like I said, it was important to be with my family and stay with them and be disappointed about it because ultimately it hurt everyone and it should hurt everyone because it was such a disappointing thing that happened. But you can’t change it, and it doesn’t last forever.
“For me, it was only right to speak when the time’s right in circumstances like this, then it’s back to talking about football.”
Bowen spoke to Daniel Kretinsky in the Czech capital
Bowen adds of his talks with the Hammers top brass; “I flew out to Prague in the Czech Republic to meet Daniel and Jiri [Svarc, Kretinsky’s right-hand man].
“And the ambition that I got from them – certainly in terms of the direction the Club wants to move in – it interests me a lot. It didn’t take a lot for me [to decide I wanted to stay], because this Club means a lot to me.”
Which Hammers players are you expecting to SHINE in the Championship? 🌟
Almost immediately after their relegation was confirmed, Kretinsky released a statement confirming his desire to not only ‘secure an immediate return to the Premier League’, but also to ‘retain as many of our key players as possible’.
In Bowen, Kretinsky has succeeded in keeping not only a key player, but their claret-and-blue talisman.
For Bowen, the biggest relief will have been hearing that Kretinsky not only shared his ambitions of a speedy promotion, but that the ‘Czech sphinx’ had both the motives and the means to back up his pledge.
“I did an interview [after relegation was confirmed] and said my vision is to get this Club back in the Premier League,” Bowen adds. “Sometimes, you think it falls on deaf ears. People say, ‘he’s just saying that’.
“There have been things written and different things said and you have to look at it and bite your tongue sometimes.
“But when I say something, I don’t hide away from it. For me, the main thing is to get this Club back into the Premier League, and speak to people in the Club about what we want to do moving forward as a Club for the better of the Club.
“It was a no-brainer for me to be here and the vision is clear; it’s the Premier League.”
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