Jarrod Bowen has had an interesting season.
The winger joined West Ham United in January for a fee of £22 million, snaffling him away from Championship club Hull City.
Since then, he played four times in the Premier League, making one start, before the COVID-19 pandemic brought proceedings to a screeching halt.
After the resumption, he has played 90 minutes against both Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur, though the Hammers have lost both games, going down 2-0 in each.
However, Kevin Phillips, the former Premier League striker, believes that Bowen is the shining light in David Moyes’ squad, and could hold the key to their survival.
West Ham are currently 17th and are only out of the drop zone on goal difference.
Speaking to Football Insider, he said: “I’ve been very impressed with Bowen.
“He has looked very sharp. Every time he gets on the ball he wants to try something. He has bundles of energy and he will only get better.
“He shone in a team that is near the bottom of the league so credit to him.
“My biggest worry for them is that they never look like they are going to score a goal and that is a very worrying sign when you are near the bottom of the Premier League.”
GIVEMESPORT’S Harry Sherlock says…
One probably cannot make the claim that it will be down to Bowen to keep West Ham up.
But, ultimately, it might be down to Bowen to keep West Ham up.
He is a tricky, pacey winger with the ability to make things happen whenever he gets on the ball.
As he repeatedly showed for Hull, he has an eye for goal, scoring 16 times in the Championship but he so far only has one goal to his name at West Ham, netting in the 3-1 win over Southampton in February.
He needs to find his shooting boots sooner rather than later because, as Mills says, the Hammers have yet to hit the back of the net since the resumption of play.
If they are to stay up, that simply must change.