Jarrod Bowen proved to be West Ham United’s weakest link in the east London outfit’s one-all draw with Manchester City on Saturday.

Hammers boss David Moyes trusted the winger to begin the Premier League affair for his 17th straight top-flight start, with Bowen not missing a kick-off since the Iron’s 3-2 loss at Liverpool in February whilst he adapted to the club following a January transfer worth in excess of £20million.

But Moyes will have been left underwhelmed with what Bowen was capable of delivering against Pep Guardiola’s Sky Blues this weekend, as the attacker struggled to make an impact upon moving centrally to cover for Michail Antonio once the goalscorer was forced off.

Bowen had started with early signs of promise in the midday kick-off by relentlessly harrying Joao Cancelo, though could not turn the hustle into anything worthwhile to go a second game without influencing the scoreline after strikes in wins over Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leicester City.

His efforts brought Moyes’ comments from September back into full focus, having urged the former Hull City attacker to offer more than just an enthusiastic presence.

“[Taking] Jarrod Bowen out of the Championship was always a gamble,” Moyes noted, via quotes by West Ham’s official website. “Most boys take a little bit of time to settle, but Jarrod hit the ground running.

“His goalscoring record at Hull was always around 15 a season, so we want him to add to his count in the Premier League, but his enthusiasm, his speed, his energy – he's been great round the club, and he's been a really terrific signing for us.

“I hope I can get more out of him, and for many reasons I really enjoy working with him.”

The 23-year-old could only display enthusiasm against Manchester City, however, as he failed to register a single key pass or shot on goal, while only winning two duels, per SofaScore.

The Leominster-born forward won each of his duels on the ground but only attempted four, while losing each of his two aerial contests, losing possession 11 times, misplacing seven of his 13 attempted passes (meaning a meagre 46.1% pass success rate), failing to connect with a teammate with his only cross and misplacing four of his five attempted long balls.

Right-back Vladimir Coufal was also given no defensive support from the right-sided forward, with Bowen offering just one clearance to zero interceptions or tackles.

Bowen further turned over possession by losing out in two of his three attempted dribbles, as the 23-year-old recorded SofaScore’s lowest match rating by any player for either side at 6.3 out of 10, with Man City ‘keeper Ederson (6.4) the worst-performing member of the visiting team.

Moyes will likely need to bend Bowen’s ear ahead of visiting Liverpool next weekend, but his prior comments calling for the winger to add to his goal output inspired the forward to impress with a brace at home to Wolves and net in the away win over Leicester.

AND in other news, David Moyes must hit the reset button as £27.2m target puts West Ham’s interest in the past.