West Ham United are preparing an official offer to sign Southampton central midfielder James Ward-Prowse this summer, according to fresh reports.
Is James Ward-Prowse leaving Southampton?
The St. Mary’s academy graduate has been a hugely integral member of his squad over the course of his 409 senior appearances on the south coast, being made captain and named Russell Martin’s overall best-performing player last season with an average WhoScored match rating of 6.95.
With the Saints having suffered relegation from the Premier League, it’s likely that they will have to cash in on some of their prized assets to help rebuild their team, and the 28-year-old, you would expect, is the player to be at the top of the list of those being let go, and Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano has backed this up.
Speaking on his Here We Go podcast, he said: “I think this is [a] typical deal for [the] final weeks of the transfer window or maybe for late July because, of course, he is a very good player and so there is some clubs who [will] decide to go for him.”
Earlier this month, Football Insider reported that the Irons saw a verbal proposal rejected by the England international, though it’s believed that this hasn’t put them off taking a second bite of the cherry by this time around tabling a serious financial offer.
Are West Ham signing James Ward-Prowse?
According to Football Insider once again, West Ham are set to “formalise their interest” in Ward-Prowse by submitting an “official bid” in the weeks ahead.
Southampton have placed a £40-50m price tag on their skipper’s head which is seen as a “sticking point” for David Moyes’ side, and whilst that fee is one that the club are “unwilling to pay”, it’s stated that chiefs “hope to get things moving” in the right direction with their incoming offer.
Whilst Ward-Prowse is naturally a central midfielder, West Ham will know that he is much stronger in the attacking aspect of his game having been dubbed "world-class" by his former manager Nathan Jones, so whilst £40m is a big sum, it's one that would well be worth paying in order to secure his services this summer.
The Portsmouth-born talent clocked up 13 goal contributions (nine goals and four assists) in 38 Premier League matches last season so was not only prolific in the final third, but also more than helped to produce chances for his fellow teammates in the red and white stripes.
As per FBRef, Moyes' target recorded a total of 241 crosses and 127 shot-creating actions over the course of the previous campaign which was more than any other member of his squad, showing his desire to get involved with the action at the top end of the pitch.
Finally, Ward-Prowse shares the same agent, CAA Stellar, as Gianluca Scamacca so this existing connection that his representative already has to the club could potentially hand them a small extra advantage when trying to get a deal across the line in the coming weeks.
