Liverpool want Bowen - How does he compare to their other attackers?

Martin Macdonald

• 21 Jul 2021 14:30 BST
• 4 min read

Liverpool are looking to bolster their attacking options this summer and have identified West Ham winger Jarrod Bowen as a potential target, according to The Athletic.

The Reds have already completed one major acquisition this summer with the signing of centre-back Ibrahima Konate from RB Leipzig for £36 million.

The 22-year-old will come in to provide quality in the backline which was ravaged by injuries to Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip last season.

Though there is not expected to be any more massive deals, Jurgen Klopp does want to add one or potentially two more attacking players to his squad in the transfer window.

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Ollie Watkins, Ismaila Sarr, Harvey Barnes and Pedro Neto have been some of the names mentioned in the press, but reports this week have put Bowen at the top of Liverpool's wishlist.

Bowen has been with West Ham since January of 2020 when he completed a £25m transfer from Hull City.

He has gone on to become a fan favourite at the London Stadium, and in the 2020/21 season he scored eight goals and recorded five assists in 30 starts in the Premier League.

Bowen usually features on the right-hand side as a traditional winger of sorts and Liverpool don't have many of those in the current squad due to Klopp's preference of playing in a 4-3-3 with Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino up top as a striker and two inside forwards.

The Englishman would provide another dimension in attack, though it is believed he will only be targeted if one or both of Xherdan Shaqiri and Divock Origi can be sold.

This summer, Liverpool have already sold Marko Grujic to Porto and Taiwo Awoniyi to Union Berlin to raise around £17m.

How does Bowen compare to Liverpool stars?

The biggest standout statistic from the above is Bowen's crossing numbers compared to Liverpool's four most prominent attackers.

The highest crosses per 90 ratio from that group comes from Mane who achieved 1.9 per game.

However, this is less than half of what Bowen produces as last season in the Premier League he sent 4.3 successful crosses into the box per 90 minutes.

That outlay is more than any of the others in the table and significantly more than Salah and Firmino in particular.

From this, we can hypothesise that Klopp is looking for something different with the acquisition of Bowen.

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Due to Liverpool playing with inside forwards, the majority of their width and crosses are provided by full-backs Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson.

Although that duo continue to be one of the best full-back pairings in the world, it makes sense for Liverpool to try and ease the burden of width, as well as getting an excellent crosser of the ball who will already be there in attack as opposed to waiting on someone on the overlap.

In terms of goals and assists Bowen is lower than all four, but it could be suggested that his numbers, particularly for assists, would improve within a better team.

After all, he created 11 Big Chances last season which would have put him right near the top of the assist chart had his team-mates converted the opportunities.