Journalist Dominic Scurr recently revealed that Newcastle United could be in for Southampton star man James Ward-Prowse this summer and the player could be tempted with a move to the club for a key reason.
The Magpies are continuing their rebuild under Eddie Howe and their recent rumours have them linked to Southampton star and England international James Ward-Prowse after the Saints failed to kick on under Ralph Hasenhuttl last season, finishing 15th in the table.
Scurr spoke about the potential move on the Loaded Mag NUFC YouTube channel recently and believes the deal could be done as Southampton could face another season hovering around the relegation battle and Ward-Prowse will not want to do so with the World Cup coming up at the end of the season.
He said on the show, “He could potentially be looking to move on because he doesn’t want to be in a relegation battle while he’s trying to get into the England squad. So, if he can move to a top-half Premier League side that Newcastle are hoping to be and get a decent run of games and start every week and be competing at the right end of the table then that ticks boxes for him as well.
“I’m fairly confident if Newcastle went after James Ward-Prowse he would be open to moving and making the switch to Newcastle.” (1:18:23)
TIF Thoughts on Scurr’s comments…
Signing the Saints star would certainly be an upgrade for both Newcastle and Ward-Prowse. The Magpies would get a better midfielder partner for Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton while Ward-Prowse gets the chance to compete for a top-ten finish while being a part of a new-look Newcastle, whose potential is limitless under their new ownership.
Last season Ward-Prowse, who Romeu called ‘unbelievable’, bagged 11 goals and eight assists across all competitions for the Saints and led the entire squad in goals. In this time he averaged 1.5 shots, two key passes, two crosses, and two long balls per game with 87.2% passing accuracy on 51.7 average passes per game. The midfielder also ranked in the 92nd percentile for expected assists per game and the 90th percentile for shot-creating actions, according to Fbref.
We can see that Ward-Prowse has a lot to offer the up-and-coming team and Scurr’s point that his desire to make the England World Cup squad could lead to his exit from Southampton. He is currently valued at £28.8 million by Transfermarkt and considering money shouldn’t be a problem for Newcastle, this deal could very well materialise.
Should Newcastle sign JWP?YesNo |