The reason why Jarrod Bowen missed West Ham's latest pre-season friendly has been revealed and it's sure to delight many around the London Stadium...

What's the word?

The 24-year-old winger has been linked with a move to Premier League rivals Liverpool in recent weeks, with The Athletic's James Pearce revealing that he featured amongst Jurgen Klopp's shortlist of summer targets.

Question marks were raised after Bowen missed the Hammers' win over Brentford on Saturday afternoon, but according to the ever-reliable ExWHUemployee, there is nothing to worry about.

Speaking on his 'The West Ham Way' Patreon page, he said:

"Bowen is injured with a minor foot injury and was not risked today. There is no move to Liverpool lined up at this point."

A silver lining

The £27m-rated Irons star may be out injured but at least he's not in talks with the Reds over a potential transfer.

Bowen is expected to play a massive role as David Moyes' first-choice right winger this season, having scored eight goals and provided five assists to help the team qualify for the 2021/22 Europa League.

The 24-year-old was so good that he frequently created more clear-cut goalscoring chances than any of Liverpool's attacking options, including Roberto Firmino, Mo Salah, Diogo Jota and Sadio Mane, as per WhoScored - it's no wonder Klopp has his eyes on him.

He signed for the East London side on deadline day in January 2020 in a £20m-plus deal from Hull City and has thrived under the stewardship of the 58-year-old ever since.

Behind Bowen, there are very few options for Moyes to consider, especially considering the departure of Felipe Anderson, while the chances of Andriy Yarmolenko following suit seem rather high amid interest from Turkey.

The £60k-per-week dynamo has even been deployed up front in the absence of the injury-prone Michail Antonio, so that goes to show his importance to the team, and that'll only increase heading into a potential 50-plus game campaign.

Once described as "unplayable" and a "special talent", Bowen appears to be sticking around for the foreseeable future, and that will leave the Irons faithful absolutely delighted.

AND in other news, Moyes facing West Ham nightmare amid concerning Sky Sports update, fans will be fuming...