Gabriel Agbonlahor has expressed doubt as to whether Liverpool will meet West Ham United's asking price for Jarrod Bowen. 

The lowdown

The Athletic's James Pearce reported in July that Bowen is on Liverpool's shortlist of potential attacking signings.

Accorrding to his colleague Roshane Thomas, though, West Ham wouldn't even 'consider' an offer below £35million.

They paid £22million to sign him from Hull City in January 2020, and he's since scored nine goals and provided ten assists in 53 appearances.

The latest

Agbonlahor predicted that Liverpool would be deterred by the reported price-tag and questioned whether Bowen has the quality to play for the Reds.

"West Ham really like him, so they’re going to expect a lot of money for him which Liverpool won’t pay for a player of his talent," the former Aston Villa striker told Football Insider.

"He’s a great player but I’m not sure he’s got that level for Liverpool."

The verdict

It should be stressed that the likelihood of the Reds making a big-money attacking signing 'depends to a large extent' on the futures of Xherdan Shaqiri and Divock Origi. If both players were to be sold, it becomes far more likely.

Liverpool are open to offers for both players but nothing has materialised as yet. That, rather than doubts over Bowen's ability, looks to be the main obstacle standing in the way of this deal.

Indeed, he's thought to tick the boxes of the Reds' recruitment team 'in terms of age, playing style and versatility' and would be expected to unlock another level under the tutelage of Jurgen Klopp.

From a West Ham perspective, it's almost surprising that their demands aren't higher. A profit of around £13million would be a little underwhelming, and they sorely need players who can provide a goalscoring threat to support Michail Antonio.

In other news, fans fumed over this ExWHUEmployeee update.