Michael Owen Advocates for Jarrod Bowen as Salah's Successor
As Liverpool stare into the post-Mohamed Salah era, one former Anfield great believes the answer is hiding in plain sight at the London Stadium.
Michael Owen has nailed his colours to the mast: Jarrod Bowen is his pick to inherit Salah’s right-wing throne.
Speaking on talkSPORT Breakfast, the former Ballon d'Or winner revealed he has already been championing the West Ham captain in private. “How did you know? I told a couple of my mates yesterday that he’s the one player I would sign,” Owen said, making no attempt to disguise his admiration.
West Ham fans may wince at what followed.
“Obviously he’s a legend of a player, West Ham adore the man, and rightly so, but if they go down, he would be the right fit for Liverpool."
For Owen, this isn’t a casual shout. It’s conviction. He sees in the 29-year-old a rare blend of technical quality, versatility and ruthless finishing that could slot straight into Arne Slot’s system at Anfield next season.
“I think he’s absolutely brilliant,” Owen continued. He recalled working closely with Bowen on a TV striker masterclass last season, an experience that appears to have sealed his opinion. Bowen’s two-footedness, set-piece delivery, pace and composure in front of goal all left a mark.
“I couldn’t believe how good he was with both feet, taking corners, his pace and he's a top finisher. He’s a brilliant player who I would take to the World Cup. I don’t want to upset West Ham fans but if they go down, he would be my ideal choice to replace Salah.”
That is the scale of the hole Liverpool are trying to plug. Salah has been their reference point on the right for years, the man who bends games to his will from that flank. Finding anything close to that profile is not just desirable, it is essential.
And this is where Owen’s concern sharpens. Liverpool, he argues, simply do not have that like-for-like threat in-house.
The club poured around £446 million into the squad last summer. The outlay brought quality, no question, but not a specialist right-sided forward in Salah’s mould. Cody Gakpo and Florian Wirtz bring creativity and goals. None of them hug that right touchline and terrorise full-backs the way Salah does.
Reflecting on the squad and the market, Owen believes Liverpool’s margin for error is thin.
“They are going to have to do only a little bit of surgery on the team; they have spent a fortune [last year],” he said. “I know they recouped a lot of money last year, but they spent a lot of it, and I doubt they have any left to spend it again. But they are going to have to replace Salah, that's the first port of call."
The message is blunt: the first job of the summer is not a new defender, not a fresh midfielder, but a right-sided attacker.
“There's no one in the team currently who is like Salah, a right-sided attacker,” Owen stressed. There are names and options, but not in that lane. He pointed to [Alexander] Isak and [Hugo] Ekitike as forwards with potential, though both are managing injuries. There is Rio Ngumoha, trying to break through. Then there’s [Cody] Gakpo and [Florian] Wirtz, who offer plenty going forward.
“There are plenty of options going forward but none on the right side."
So the spotlight swings back to Bowen. Direct. Relentless. A leader at West Ham and, in Owen’s eyes, a ready-made heir to Salah’s role.
The problem? Price and circumstance.
If West Ham stay up, prising their captain away will be expensive and politically fraught. If they go down, Liverpool’s chances improve, but even then, the finances are tight. Salah is leaving for nothing. There is no blockbuster fee to roll straight into a marquee signing.
That reality could force Liverpool back towards the sort of creative, calculated recruitment that once brought Sadio Mané and Roberto Firmino to Anfield for relatively modest sums. Smart deals, not galáctico cheques.
Former Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant shares the concern over what Slot will actually have to spend.
“I don't think we're going to have that massive budget,” Pennant admitted. He pointed to two defenders returning from injury as a major boost, and flagged Conor Bradley’s return as another important piece for next season.
That, in his view, is exactly why the club must back Slot sensibly rather than expecting him to copy and paste his old system onto this squad.
“We've got to give them money because the same Slot system is not going to work,” Pennant said. “So with the group that we've got, I personally believe that a new style, the 'old Liverpool way', would get a better tune out of these players and better performances and better results."
Between Owen’s insistence on a specialist Salah successor and Pennant’s warning about budgets and systems, one question hangs over Anfield.
Can Liverpool, without a huge war chest and without Salah, find the next talisman on that right flank — and is Jarrod Bowen the gamble they dare to take?
