Jarrod Bowen has confirmed he is staying at West Ham as they drop into the Championship following relegation last season.
Hammers captain Bowen was expected to be among of a raft of painful departures when the club’s fate was sealed on the final day of the Premier League campaign, with Mateus Fernandes already joining Tottenham for £85m, while Crysencio Summerville is expected to follow out the door.
But amid interest from Premier League clubs, the 29-year-old has committed his future to West Ham and has pledged to bring the back to the top-flight.
“The main motivation for me is staying and bringing this club back into the Premier League where we belong,” the forward said.
“There is always going to be rumours and different things going on. For me, it was only right to speak when the time is right, in circumstances like this.
“It hurt everyone and it should hurt everyone. It was such a disappointing thing but it doesn’t last forever.”
Bowen revealed that he went out to speak to new West Ham majority shareholder Daniel Kretinsky, along with right-hand man Jiri Svarc, about his future and was convinced to stay by the vision they had.
“We flew out to Prague in the Czech Republic to meet with Daniel [Kretinsky] and Jiri [Svarc]. The ambition that I got from them in terms of the direction the club wants to move in interested me a lot,” he added.
“It didn’t take a lot for me, as this club means a lot to me. I did an interview after the game, my vision is to get this club back into the Premier League.
“I have been here six and a half years, I transitioned from a boy in the Championship into a man and now captain of the club. It is a huge honour and I see myself in years to come as a die-hard West Ham fan.”
Bowen scored 11 goals and notched 12 assists last season, hitting double digits for the fifth successive season in a West Ham shirt.
Across 280 all-time appearances, he has 85 goals and 63 assists to his name, including the winner in the club’s 2023 Conference League triumph over Fiorentina which secured their first trophy in 43 years.
He has 22 caps for England but was not selected as part of Thomas Tuchel’s squad for this summer’s World Cup.
West Ham begin their Championship season against Burnley on 16 August.