West Ham United captain Jarrod Bowen will stay at the club as they prepare for life in the Championship.

The 29-year-old England international was part of the side which suffered relegation from the Premier League on the final day of the season, leaving his future in doubt.

Bowen, who joined the Hammers from Hull City in 2020, has played 280 times for the club, scoring 85 goals, and has captained the side since 2024 after the departure of Kurt Zouma.

He has 22 England caps but missed out on a place in Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad this summer.

The news provides a welcome boost for the Hammers, who have begun their pre-season preparation ahead of their first season in the Championship since 2011-12.

Bowen, a key player in the Hammers’ front line, started every Premier League match last season, scoring nine goals.

He famously scored the winning goal in the final minute against Fiorentina in the 2023 Uefa Conference League final in Prague as West Ham won their first major trophy in 43 years.

Bowen had been linked with a summer move away from the London Stadium back to the Premier League. He has now committed his future to the club for the 2026-27 season but has not signed a new contract extension, with his current deal running until 2030.

‘Live my life as captain of West Ham’
Speaking to the Hammers website, external, Bowen said: “My main motivation is staying and bringing this club back to the Premier League where we belong.

“It was only right for me to speak at the right time. Ultimately it [relegation] hurt everyone and it should hurt everyone.

“I flew out to Prague to meet (club directors) Daniel [Kretinsky] and Jiri [Svarc] and the ambition that I got from them, certainly in terms of the direction the club wants to move in, it interests me a lot. It didn’t take a lot, because this club means a lot to me.

“For me, when you’re here for a longer amount of time, you gain more affection, you grow into the club more, you grow into your role more and more, and I think that’s what I’ve done.

“I’ve been here six and a half years and transitioned from a boy to a man and I’ve never tried to hide away from anything.

“There are things you can do better, but certainly in my character on the pitch and off the pitch, I never try and hide away from anything and shift the blame.

“I always try and stand up for them and just kind of live my life as captain of West Ham and also as a fan as well.

“I see myself in years to come as a West Ham fan. So, I always think ‘what would they want as a fan if they got the opportunity to play on the pitch?’. For me, I think I’m like that character as well, so I think that’s the way.”

Bowen will now continue his pre-season preparations with head coach Nuno Espirito Santo, who confirmed that he will remain at the club for the new season back in May.

After a home clash against Portsmouth in the first round of the Carabao Cup a week prior, West Ham kick off their Championship season away at fellow relegated club Burnley on Sunday, 16 August

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has backed Spain to defeat Argentina in the 2026 FIFA World Cup final while subtly demanding strict officiating to counter the South Americans’ physical approach.

The club chief made the bold predictions during an impromptu interview with an El Partidazo de COPE reporter while strolling past the Tous store at the Rockefeller Centre in New York.

Laporta predicts Spanish glory
Spain are set to face the defending champions at the New York New Jersey Stadium on Sunday in a clash that pits Barcelona’s past against its present.

Laporta left no room for ambiguity regarding where his loyalties lie ahead of the highly anticipated encounter.

“The Spanish national team will win,” Laporta stated. “We have a better team.”

Other than being a Spanish national himself, his unwavering support for manager Luis de la Fuente’s side is influenced by the fact that La Roja squad currently features eight Barcelona players.

However, Laporta also took the opportunity to issue a thinly veiled warning regarding Argentina’s famously robust defensive tactics.

Lionel Scaloni’s side have relied on an aggressive, physical approach to navigate their way to consecutive World Cup finals.

Laporta suggested that Spain’s technical style could be stifled if the match officials allow the defending champions to disrupt the flow with tactical fouls.

“If the referee is a referee who asserts himself, the national team will have more chances of winning the match,” he told the Spanish radio network.
The showpiece event presents a unique emotional dilemma for Barcelona supporters worldwide.

Argentina are captained by Lionel Messi, the undisputed greatest player in the Catalan club’s history following his legendary spell between 2004 and 2021.

Conversely, Spain’s attack is spearheaded by Lamine Yamal, the 19-year-old sensation who currently wears Barcelona’s iconic number 10 shirt.

This generational dynamic has sparked intense debate across social media platforms, with Laporta stoking the sentiments by saying, “Messi is the past and present; Yamal is the present and future.

Many Barcelona fans have playfully expressed comfort with any potential outcome, while others continue to agonise over whether to support their historic idol or their current teenage talisman.

When the two nations take the pitch on Sunday, it will mark their first competitive meeting since the 1966 World Cup group stage, where Argentina secured a 2-1 victory over Spain at Villa Park in England.

Former Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy has shared an amusing anecdote about the unique injury treatment preferred by his Nigerian ex-teammates, Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi.

Iheanacho and Ndidi became integral members of the Foxes squad after joining in 2017, playing a crucial role in the club’s historic 2021 FA Cup victory.

The duo shared a strong bond with Vardy during their time at the King Power Stadium, often engaging in light-hearted banter with their teammates.

Vardy, a Leicester City legend after 13 years with the club, departed last summer for Serie A side Cremonese. Iheanacho and Ndidi have also since moved on from the Foxes.

Speaking on a recent podcast, Vardy recounted how the Super Eagles stars had a peculiar remedy for minor injuries.

He explained that Iheanacho and Ndidi would insist on using a special “juju cream” brought back from Nigeria, refusing any other oils or balms offered by the club’s medical staff.

“They used to get injured, just little knocks, then they’d go back to Nigeria for one day literally, come back, and then they’ve got a nice big tub of juju cream,” Vardy said.

“That was the only thing that the masseuses were allowed to massage on the injured areas. They used to tell us that they used to get it from a Nigerian witch doctor.”

While Vardy’s story adds a humorous, if slightly controversial, layer to the players’ time at the club, the “juju cream” was likely part of a running joke.

Ndidi later clarified on social media that the substance was simply local shea butter, known as ‘ori’ in Nigeria.