Newcastle United return to old territory as 16-goal Premier League ace heads list of attacking targets

Newcastle United have put West Ham hero Jarrod Bowen at the top of their three-man shortlist of potential right winger additions this summer.

The Athletic reported earlier this month that the Magpies are in the market for a right winger to go with further reinforcements in both the centre back and goalkeeping departments.

The Magpies are already closing in on a deal for defender Lloyd Kelly of Bournemouth and reports from NewcastleWorld also understand that goalkeeping prodigy James Trafford is likely to arrive this summer from Burnley having already agreed personal terms with the club.

Bowen appears to be the most ambitious of Newcastle’s current targets given his performances for West Ham last term which saw him fire-in an incredible 16 goals and six assists from 34 league matches.

The 27-year-old, who has been included in Gareth Southgate’s 26-man England squad for the Euros this summer, has been a crucial part of the West Ham team for a number of years and has cemented his status as a club legend having scored the winner in the 2023 Europa Conference League final - the club’s first piece of silverware since 1980.

However, it could have all been so different when Newcastle nearly signed the player from Hull City in January 2020 before West Ham clinched the £18m deal. In a statement reflective of the state of affairs under previous owner Mike Ashley, Bruce recalled: “I had him parked in the service station on the M1 waiting to see if we had the permission, to see if I could scramble the funds to make it happen but I couldn’t get money together and he went to West Ham instead.”

Bowen admitted he had his heart set on moving to Newcastle and wasn’t aware of West Ham’s interest until the final moments. He said: “It was £14m with £6m in add-ons and one of those was for an England call-up, and I thought that would never happen. I went to training and thought I was staying with Hull, but the manager pulled me and said ‘what are you doing here, we’ve accepted a bid from West Ham’. I didn’t even know they were interested.”

Bowen has been a revelation in East London since making the move to West Ham, but Football Insider reporter Peter O’Rourke claims that the England international still appears regularly in the club’s recruitment talks. He says that Bowen leads a three-man list of right sided targets which also includes Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams and Leeds United star Crysencio Summerville after a sensational season in the Championship.

Bowen could be the most difficult to acquire, given that his contract runs until the summer of 2030 and a potential deal for the player is likely to depend on the future of both Yankuba Minteh and Miguel Almiron, who have both been linked with moves away from St James’ Park this summer.

Minteh was a standout performer for Feyenoord during a loan spell last term. The Gambian scored 10 times in 27 games in the Eredivisie and has been linked with a reunion with Arne Slot at Liverpool following his impressive campaign.

Meanwhile, Almiron was the subject of interest from various Saudi Pro League clubs in January and it is suspected that they, along with newly promoted Ipswich, could show interest in the Paraguayan this summer.