Quantcast
Social Media

Jenas clearly believes Newcastle were right on Bowen

|
Image for Jenas clearly believes Newcastle were right on Bowen

OPINION

Jermaine Jenas implied that Newcastle United were right to not stump up the cash needed to sign Hull City attacker Jarrod Bowen, and surely he was harsh to do so.

Chronicle journalist Lee Ryder previously reported that the Magpies were refusing to pay £20million for the 22-year-old winger despite the Northern Echo previously claiming Newcastle were considering a move for Bowen due to Steve Bruce having a high opinion on him.

#nufc are refusing to pay the £20million asking price for Hull’s Jarrod Bowen,” wrote the reporter on his personal Twitter account.

However, while that stance should have raised eyebrows and been disappointing for Newcastle fans as Bowen is worth money, Jenas harshly implied it was the correct one as there was no guarantee the Hull winger could make the step up.

“Do I think he will be a good signing for Newcastle? I’m always apprehensive about players moving up from the Championship – even though I did just that. You just never know. He did well at Hull but is he going to be able to light it up at Newcastle?” said Jenas, as quoted by the Hull Daily Mail.

“There’s something special about being a striker at Newcastle. It’s like that number seven shirt at Liverpool and Manchester United.

“There’s certain aspects about being a Newcastle United number nine, the pressure comes pretty quick.”

The BBC pundit wasn’t just unsure whether Bowen’s form could translate to the Premier League, which is a bit hypocritical considering once upon time Jenas made the step up from the Championship in his playing days, but alluded to the fact he was unsure whether the winger could cope with the pressure at St James Park.

Jenas pointed out how pressure comes quickly at Newcastle, especially for a striker, but does he not realise that Bowen has thrived under pressure?

The 22-year-old delivered the goods last season for Hull as not only did he averaged a rating of 7.17 (Source: WhoScored), he was their top-scorer as he scored 22 league goals in 44 outings, and helped them to a surprise finish of 13th.

In the season before, Bowen was once again Hull City’s top-scorer as he scored 15 goals in 44 league outings, and with his goals, the Tigers finished 18th.

If the winger hadn’t kept scoring in his 2017/18 campaign, Hull could have been relegated and that surely proves how much pressure he was able to cope with.

After all Hull and its supporters likely inadvertently put a lot of pressure on Bowen to help them survive the drop, so he’d be fine with coping with the likely pressure at Newcastle.

Bowen has proven himself in the Championship across two seasons, so was deserving of a move to Newcastle and likely could have made the step up.

Also when you consider he is only 22-years-old and set to get better, Newcastle paying £20million would have been a wise investment not a foolish one.

So with that in mind, Jenas is surely harsh to imply that Newcastle were right to sidestep making a move for Bowen by implying he wasn’t a guaranteed success, because who is?

Share this article