Jarrod Bowen has reflected on his time at West Ham so far and stated his personal goals for the rest of the season.

West Ham struck gold when they signed Jarrod Bowen from Hull back in 2020. For only £22 million, they signed someone who would be pivotal in creating a new era at the club, scoring one of the most important goals in their history as well as just an outstanding professional overall.

You can tell he instantly got what it means to wear the claret and blue and he has revealed how the “unbelievable” day that he signed for the club went. “I remember the whole day. I had two good seasons at Hull [City] and was always thinking if I was going to get a move. There was always talk but my agent let me know that nothing was going on, so I kept my head down and continued working,” he said on the Iron Cast podcast.

“I went into training normally, went for breakfast as I normally would and the manager at the time, Grant McCann, said, ‘What are you doing here?’ and pulled me into his office. He said that the club have accepted a bid from West Ham and my face just lit up.”

“I couldn’t really believe what was happening. I went to Leeds and did a scan for a couple of hours, and I remember being sat in Doncaster railway station ready to go to Kings Cross. Me, my dad, and my brother were all just in tears and couldn’t believe it was happening. To be playing for my local team at Edgar Street to playing in the Premier League with West Ham was unbelievable.”

After joining, it didn’t take long for the winger to impress the East London faithful as he scored a great goal on his home debut to show exactly why the club took the risk of signing him from the Championship. “It was a bit mental [my home debut]. I think that was the time around COVID-19 when we had four games that included Liverpool and Manchester City away,” said Bowen. “I should have scored against Liverpool, then a week later I had a similar chance and scored. We had Arsenal away and should have beaten them as well. The Southampton game [his home debut] was special. We won 3-1 and it was a perfect start. It was incredible.”

“I felt comfortable here right away but I’m not sure if that’s just how my mindset works, just don’t do too much and you will fit in, and I felt as if I did that from the first game I played.”

While he is a special player who has scored some immense goals over the years for the Hammers, one goal in particular will go on to define his legacy as a West Ham legend. His 90th minute winner against Fiorentina may be the most iconic goal in their 129 year history. However, Bowen says he has had to move past that moment and use it as a platform to push on from.

“When you are playing it is so hard to get caught up in it because it is almost kind of gone for me. It [the winning goal] will obviously always be there but because a new season has started, that is now at the back of my thinking, and the focus this season is doing even better again,” he explained.

“I think it is one of those things that when you finish playing you will look back and go ‘What a goal’. When you’re playing you are always so focused to do more, score more and you put that to the back of your mind as bad as it sounds.”

Despite a couple of injuries, Bowen has 15 Premier League goals to his name. While it is anything but guaranteed, you would hope this is enough to put him on the plane to Germany with England, something he admits is a personal goal for himself. “Hopefully [I can get a call-up this summer for the EURO 2024]. That’s the aim but the attacking areas for England are one of the best they have been for a number of years, so that is the competition you are up against. The biggest thing for me this season was being consistent week in week out and, even if I don’t score then I have to play well and maybe set up a goal.”

“In the last camp I played both games and when you get that opportunity to impress you need to give the manager a headache and I feel like I’ve done that,” he concluded. “I know it’s going to be difficult with what I’m up against and how they’ve done this season but that is where you want to be.”