Hull City landed a huge cash windfall from Jarrod Bowen decision - Is it the club's best in recent times? | OneFootball

Jarrod Bowen has gone on to achieve great things following his time at Hull City. Perhaps it is the Tigers' best transfer in recent times.

Jarrod Bowen has really made a name for himself in English football over the last few years.

The 27-year-old signed for the Hammers in January and became an immediate first-team starter after such a strong spell with Hull City in the Championship.

Over the past five seasons, Bowen has become one of England's best wingers and a modern-day club legend at West Ham. He now wears the captain's armband at the London Stadium is their star man in attack.

In two separate Premier League seasons, he has contributed to 22 goals, with a real mix of goals and assists. Under David Moyes, West Ham enjoyed three years in Europe, two in the Europa League and one in the Conference League, and Bowen was a standout performer throughout.

Bowen helped the Irons lift the Conference League title last summer, as he scored a 90th minute winner against Fiorentina in a dramatic final.

Away from club football, Bowen has made a number of appearances for England over the last couple of seasons, and made two substitute appearances in the 2024 Euros.

His former club, Hull City, must be looking on with immense pride and will be pleased that they made that worthwhile free signing back in 2014.

Bowen's time with Hull City

As a teenager, Bowen earned first-team appearances with his local side, Hereford United, but in 2014, the club were expelled from the Conference, and Bowen was picked up by Hull City, who were in the Premier League at the time, on a free transfer, which turned out to be one of their best bits of business in recent history.

The forward had to wait two years to make his first-team debut with Hull, but from 2016 he really kicked on. The Tigers were relegated from the top flight, so Bowen had to stand up and really impress in the Championship.

Fortunately, he did exactly that, as over the next three seasons, he scored a total of 54 goals and assisted 13 in all competitions for Hull, which meant that he received interest from elsewhere.

West Ham were the club that secured his services in January 2020, and he signed a five-and-a-half year contract with the Premier League side. The fee was reported to be around £22 million, which was a huge sum of money for Hull in the Championship. Looking back, that free transfer in 2014 turned out to be a stroke of genius, considering the profit.

Is it Hull's best signing in recent times?

It is hard to disagree with the idea that Jarrod Bowen is Hull's best signing over the last decade or so, especially in terms of the profit made. However, 2014 was a summer to remember for the Tigers, and not only due to the fact they signed Bowen.

Well-known Premier League figures, Andy Robertson and Harry Maguire both signed for Hull in July of that year as fairly unknown youngsters, and went on to have fantastic careers at the elite level.

Maguire arrived from Sheffield United and Robertson from Dundee United, in very cheap deals all things considered. Strangely, both players spent three years with the Tigers as regulars in defence before earning big Premier League moves.

Maguire, of course, was sold to Leicester City for a reported £17 million a year after they won the Premier League, while Robertson was picked up by Liverpool for an initial £8 million.

Both players were standout performers for Hull City, but as signings go, it will be tough to beat the signing of Jarrod Bowen. The forward was signed by Hull's academy at the age of 18 from non-league and went on to make the step-up to the Premier League and Championship, seemingly with ease.