Niclas Fullkrug was not alone in taking an immediate liking to a new face at West Ham United. Jarrod Bowen is a fan, too.
Understandably so.
The West Ham United captain spent much of last season carving out goalscoring opportunities all on his own. Occasionally, starting moves and finishing them; Graham Potter’s most potent finisher but also his most reliable source of creativity too.
With Mohammed Kudus gone and Lucas Paqueta frustratingly inconsistent, the pressure on Jarrod Bowen’s shoulders heading into the new campaign may appear more crushing than ever. But this is where El Hadji Malick Diouf comes in.
The aforementioned Niclas Fullkrug feels Diouf is the perfect addition to a Hammers team who struggled to supply their 6ft 2ins targetman with a regular source of ammunition throughout the 2024/25 campaign.
And Bowen certainly shares Fullkrug’s optimism.
Jarrod Bowen says West Ham United’s El Hadji Malick Diouf is one of the best crossers he’s seen
A 3-0 defeat to Sunderland was not the start Diouf wanted to Premier League life, but the £19 million acquisition from Czech champions Slavia Prague has already proven his worth under Graham Potter.
Diouf assisted Bowen with an ‘unbelievable’ cross during the 2-0 pre-season victory over AFC Bournemouth in the USA. Potter described the Senegal star’s pinpoint deliveries as one of the major plus-points of the Premier League Summer Series, and his focus will now be on giving Diouf the platform he needs to make his mark in a competitive setting.
Starting with Friday night’s London derby against Chelsea.
Bowen, meanwhile, has played alongside some elite deliverers over the years. Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luke Shaw, Reece James, Aaron Cresswell, James Ward-Prowse, for instance.
The skipper has only known Diouf for a matter of weeks, but Bowen already has few qualms about putting the 20-year-old up there with the best of them.
“[His crosses make Diouf] one of the best I’ve seen,” Bowen smiles before opening up on the potentially invaluable advice he bestowed upon the Dakar-born flyer.
“You know what, I had a little chat with him in training one time because he loves to bomb forward. I said, ‘Every time you get the ball out wide, do not turn back and play the ball to the centre-half. Just put the ball in the box’.
‘If I’m not there, you can shout at me. But if you don’t put the ball in, I am gonna shout at you!’
“For the two goals against Bournemouth, he crossed it to me. I kind of mis-hit [the first attempt] and played it to ‘Fulle’. And the second goal, again there was that space and he just put the ball in straight away.
“When you build that kind of relationship as a forward, you want the ball in the box as many times as possible. Defenders don’t want to defend inside the box.”
Bowen hails Callum Wilson, Kyle Walker-Peters and Mads Hermansen
While Diouf was denied a debut goal by a dramatic Dan Ballard clearance last time out on Wearside, Mads Hermansen and Callum Wilson also made their first league appearances in a West Ham shirt.
Bowen insists that all three have made a positive impression behind the scenes, alongside versatile full-back Kyle Walker-Peters.
“The way they have fitted in is credit to themselves,” Bowen adds. “They’ve just hit the ground running. I think that is the environment we’ve got as well. We want to class this club as a family, be all together. I think it’s easy for players to come into this changing room now.
“Malick had chances in America, Kyle as well. It was like they had been there for a few years. I think that was credit to everyone, what we are trying to create, letting people be themselves as much as we can be.
“I think, when you get the best out of someone, they are just themselves all the time. They feel relaxed, they feel like they’ve got no dramas. They can come in, be themselves, have a group of mates around them and play football, in simple terms.
“So, yeah, they have clicked in really well. Obviously, quality players as well, a lot of experience with Callum, Kyle, Mads in the Premier League.
“And Malick beat England in the summer when he played [in a 3-1 victory for Senegal in Nottingham], so he’s got a lot of potential.”
