Leeds United: Phil Hay reveals club were once interested in Jarrod Bowen

Phil Hay has revealed that Leeds United missed out on signing Jarrod Bowen a few years ago.

It’s well-documented that Leeds were once close to signing Erling Haaland, and given his connections to the club, it would have been an amazing signing, especially in hindsight.

However, a lesser-known player they were targeting a few years ago was then-Championship ace Bowen, who was tearing it up with Hull City before making a mid-season switch to the Premier League with West Ham United in January 2020.

While discussing the dispute regarding former striker Jean-Kevin Augustin, Hay revealed some insight on The Phil Hay Show into Leeds’ search for a new forward and their strong interest in Bowen, who’s gone on to become an England international.

He said: “They looked at Jarrod Bowen, who was at Hull as well. I think that would’ve had to have been essentially the same [type of] deal [as Augustin] if they had been able to do anything with him. They would’ve taken him [on loan] but agreed to an obligation to take him permanently because Hull wanted the commitment to that fee being paid, and as time ticked on, they settled on Augustin.”

TIF Thoughts on Leeds missing out on Bowen…

The signing of Augustin was bad enough in isolation, with him only playing a handful of times before picking up an injury, while Leeds are now being forced to pay a full transfer fee to RB Leipzig – and the fact they opted for him over Bowen will only make the situation seem worse.

Bowen has gone on to become a Premier League regular for West Ham, turning out in Europe and for his country, while also attracting interest from the likes of Arsenal, although he now reportedly has a price tag of £75m on his head.

In hindsight, signing Bowen would have been the much smarter move, however, given Leeds were in the Championship at the time and both Newcastle United and West Ham were looking at Bowen, it would have been very difficult for the Whites to tempt the winger to Elland Road in the first place.