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Ben Foster has declared that West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen is worth around £50m and feels he would ‘definitely’ be a starter for Arsenal.
West Ham produced an impressive 1-0 win over Arsenal at the Emirates on Saturday, with Bowen netting the only goal of the match on 44 minutes.
Bowen has been West Ham’s top scorer so far this season in the Premier League, conjuring up seven goals across 22 appearances for the club.
The 28-year-old England international, capped 14 times by the Three Lions to date, has also bagged four assists in the current 2024-25 campaign.
Bowen, under contract at the east London club until 2030, holds legendary status at the London Stadium for helping West Ham win their first major trophy in over 40 years with a triumph in the 2023-23 Conference League.
Former Manchester United goalkeeper Foster doesn’t feel Bowen is a ‘top-four player’ but does think he would slot straight into Arsenal’s XI if he decided to follow in Declan Rice’s footsteps and move to the Emirates.
Quizzed about Bowen, who can operate as a right winger, second striker or centre-forward, Foster said on his podcast: ‘He would definitely score some goals for Arsenal.
‘I don’t think he’s a top-four player. I think he is a one little rung below it. One little rung. [Bowen would] definitely start up front for Arsenal.
‘Arsenal fans, if they would’ve signed Jarrod Bowen [in the most recent January transfer window], would’ve gone, ‘Yeah, brilliant, that shows that you are invested in our football’.
‘Other people would have laughed but Arsenal fans would’ve gone, ‘You know what, fair play to the owners, fair play to Mikel Arteta for thinking out of the box for investing in the rest of the season, you’re not going to give it up, we are investing in a player who now and for the rest of the season will score us 10 to 12 goals’.’
Asked how much Bowen would cost Arsenal in the summer transfer window at the end of the current season, Foster stated that the Englishman was worth ‘£50m’.
West Ham paid around £22m to sign Bowen from Hull City in January 2020, with the club making him their new captain in August.
Bowen, a huge fan-favourite at West Ham, has played a total of 226 games for the Hammers to date, scoring 68 goals and providing 43 assists.
He was crowned West Ham United Players’ Player of the Year in 2022 and then West Ham United Player of the Year two years later.
West Ham head coach Graham Potter lauded Bowen after his heroics in the 1-0 win over Arsenal last time out.
‘I’m delighted for him (Bowen), and I think there’s still more to come from him, certainly in terms of goals,’ Potter said.
‘He’s been brilliant to work with. We had to be patient for him to be able to come back into the team when we came in, because of his injury, but he’s our captain and he leads in a really good way.’
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