Cristiano Ronaldo, Mohamed Salah, Harry Kane and Jarrod Bowen. Spot the odd one out?
Three of them are among the most celebrated goalscorers in world football. One of them is a Championship winger, some of you may not have heard of.
That might make Bowen an underwhelming transfer target on first glance – The Northern Echo reports that Spurs hold such a strong interest in the 22-year-old that Newcastle United have dropped their attempts to sign him.
But the boy’s numbers suggest he is a not a cheap Daniel Levy downgrade, but a goalscoring machine waiting to be unleashed at the top level.
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Bowen has been on fire for Hull City this past year. In his last 50 club games, he has scored 35 goals – mostly from the right wing. That is more than Salah (29) and Kane and Ronaldo (both 32), although the latter pair have been prolific at international level over the same period.
And yes, of course, Bowen is playing at a lower level and that is a caveat to those numbers, but it could be argued they are relative as Ronaldo, Salah and Kane are playing with world-class players, in teams which win most weeks – discounting the dark days of the final Pochettino months.
Meanwhile, Bowen has managed this unceasing assault on the Soccer Saturday vidiprinter, in a Hull side which has floated in Championship mediocrity, notching 41% of their total goals since December 3rd 2018.
What is even more impressive, is Bowen’s match-winning consistency. He has scored two or more goals 10 times since the start of last term. Compare that to Ronaldo (six), or Salah and Kane (both seven). Even Sergio Aguero and Kylian Mbappe come in with fewer – seven and nine respectively.
If a player is scoring two goals in a game, he is winning the vast majority of those games for his team. On eight of those 10 occasions, Hull have been victorious, and drawn the other two matches. Very few players have the ability to drag a team to three points, almost single-handedly. Bowen does.
Many fans will look at the Bowen link and be unexcited. Well, those numbers excite me. And if our scouts have convinced Jose to gamble on the lad, as The Northern Echo claims, I think he’s a punt worth taking.
Stats c/o WhoScored.
