As things stand, West Ham United are going to rely on Jarrod Bowen for goals too much again this season, and it could be deadly. 

The 24/25 season was an awful one with too much bad football and bad results. However, there was one real big bright spark, and that was our captain, Jarrod Bowen.

The 28-year-old was our undisputed best player last season, and the fact he didn’t win Hammer of the year was surprising to say the least.

The former Hull City man was involved in 46% of our goals last season; only Mohammed Salah was involved in more goals for his team. That statistic is fine for the scousers because they scored so many goals, and Salah was just that good. Bowen was obviously amazing, but the rest of the attack let him down last season.

As things stand, it’s likely to be the same story next season unless we take an active role in the market. Mohammed Kudus has been sold, but the return of Crysencio Summerville should at least compensate for his goals, if he can stay fit. But we know how much he struggled with that last term.

The Hammers’ striker situation is torrid; we’ve lost both Michail Antonio and Danny Ings, so our only senior striker is Niclas Fullkrug, and he, too, missed a big chunk of the season with injury and can’t be relied upon.

If we don’t sign a striker and left winger who can contribute goals, I can see us being in a real relegation struggle next season if we struggle with injuries and Bowen doesn’t improve on his already borderline world-class performances.