BACKGROUND

Hull City finished 18th in the Championship last season, and the club would much rather be in the conversation for promotion than hovering above the basement especially after having just been in the Premier League a season before last.

Manager Nigel Adkins continues to insist that star winger Jarrod Bowen is not for sale, especially after finishing as the Tigers’ leading scorer this last season, according to the Hull Daily Mail -

“There’s not been any bids. He scored some goals last season so we’ll have to wait and see (if there’s interest) but we’re not looking to sell him.

“We want to be building a team. We’ve got an XI that, on their day, can be a good team in the Championship and Jarrod is a part of that. We don’t want to be losing him.

“He’s a player that we want to keep. He’s under contract and he was happy to sign that last season. He started playing games and was rewarded with a new deal.

“The fact of the matter is that we need to bring players in. They’ve got to be the right characters but we need to bring players in. That’s what I’d like to think we’ll be doing.”

Therein lies the rub for Hull. They need to bring in players and selling Bowen would help fund that. The club has indicated that they would budge for nothing less than £20million, but no other team has tested their resolve yet.

PLAYER PROFILE

The 21-year-old showed off his versatility and durability last season, playing in 43 games across all competitions, scoring 15 times and assisting thrice. Bowen made the jump up from the U-18 side to the senior team the previous season in the Premier League, and has looked good since then.

The ambidextrous forward played primarily as a right winger for Hull after starting off his career with now-defunct Hereford United, but Bowen has been gathering plenty of attention with his performances last season.

Hull signed the player to a three-year extension at the beginning of this last season, with the option of an additional year, which gives the club some leverage.

EVERTON ANGLE

Everton are looking to add depth on the wing, with Theo Walcott the starter on the right, Yannick Bolasie’s future with the Blues in doubt and Ademola Lookman looking to possibly leave.

Making the step up to a Premier League side is undoubtedly the next step in Bowen’s development, and backing up the 29-year-old Walcott would give him some sheltered playing minutes while learning from one of the better forwards in the country.

The Blues have been rumoured to make a £12million bid for the player despite Adkins’ comments, and it might take a little more to prise away the player who would be a good addition for Marco Silva, who got to see Bowen’s talents in person when he was in charge at the Tigers.