The £50m reason why Jarrod Bowen could still leave West Ham before September 1st | OneFootball

The Hammers captain revealed his intention to remain at the London Stadium last month

West Ham United are reportedly still facing an exit threat involving Hammers modern-day icon and club captain, Jarrod Bowen.

According to the Sun, the Hammers' London rivals, Crystal Palace, are readying a bid potentially worth £50m to lure the 29-year-old to Selhurst Park between now and the close of the summer transfer window on Tuesday, September 1st.

It has been far from the ideal return to the Championship for West Ham and Nuno Espírito Santo, with the East London side winless in their opening two league matches of the season despite progressing in the EFL Cup.

The pre-season title favourites found themselves two goals ahead at Burnley on the opening day of the season before a late capitulation, and it went from bad to worse on that front against Charlton Athletic.

Indeed, whilst the Addicks have been tipped to exit the Championship at the wrong end of the table in comparison to the Irons, Nathan Jones' side made it two wins from two as Lloyd Jones and Tyreece Campbell netted in advance of Joel Piroe's debut goal and Taty Castellanos' shocking penalty miss in the 93rd minute.

It has been an intriguing summer window in E20 thus far, but a U-turn on Bowen's future would only add to a dismal start to the campaign.

Crystal Palace ready ambitious £50m move for West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen

Action Images

As previously mentioned, West Ham's transfer activity in this window has generated plenty of intrigue, whilst the Hammers themselves have generated well in excess of £140m after the high-profile departures of Mateus Fernandes and Crysencio Summerville to Tottenham Hotspur and Al-Hilal respectively.

Alongside the aforementioned duo, it was heavily expected earlier this summer that Bowen would depart the London Stadium, where he is still under contract until June 2030, but that is yet to be the case.

A plethora of clubs, including Aston Villa and Everton, have been linked with his services, but as per the Sun's report, Palace, under the newly-appointed Pierre Sage, are looking to secure his signature in the final week of the window.

It has been claimed that Bowen would be an immediate replacement for Senegalese winger, Ismaïla Sarr, who is attracting interest from Galatasaray whilst being absent from his side's 2-0 defeat against the Toffees at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Action Images

Unsurprisingly, such news has caused a stir amongst West Ham fans, less than a month after Bowen appeared to commit his immediate future, at least, to aiding a first-time promotion bid, which also involved discussions with current majority stakeholder, Daniel Křetínský.

"I genuinely feared this after seeing that yesterday. Plus the whole DK (Křetínský) promises I assume are fully out of the window now. Maybe one to watch...," said one concerned Hammers supporter.

"If I trusted the club to reinvest it properly then I’d say take it. But I don’t.," wrote another Irons fan.

"£50m?!? Take it, and run," claimed another supporter who perhaps hasn't been impressed by Bowen's start to the season.

"Yep, makes complete sense to buy him for 50m rather than 15m next season," one response read.

West Ham would have to act fast if Jarrod Bowen left for Crystal Palace

Action Images

It would be a huge blow for West Ham to lose a player with Bowen's quality, experience and leadership at any point of the transfer window, but to do so with such little time remaining would be hugely frustrating in particular.

The Hammers would then have to source an immediate replacement, but with other clubs perhaps likely to sense desperation from the promotion hopefuls, the valuation of said targets could also be significantly increased themselves.

However, the majority of supporters will hope that, irrespective of the fee and the potential lure of UEFA Europa League football, Bowen sticks to his prior word and shows loyalty to his current employers.