Southampton ‘want to keep’ captain James Ward-Prowse beyond the end of the season, according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano.
Having played for Southampton throughout his entire professional career, Ward-Prowse has shown some signs that he could be worthy of a move to a so-called bigger club, making 11 caps for England, including one as recently as November, in a match against Italy.
However, the captain has expressed no desire of wanting to leave his boyhood club, currently contracted until June 2026, meaning the Saints will be able to command a nice fee for him, even if his stance changes in the summer.
Romano recently took to his CaughtOffside column to provide an update about the future of the 28-year-old, saying:
“I mentioned in the summer that James Ward-Prowse was attracting interest from West Ham. However, Southampton want to keep him now, this is very clear; we will see in the summer, it’s really difficult to predict summer moves now… it depends on managers, directors, many factors.” (via CaughtOffside)
TIF thoughts on Ward-Prowse’s Southampton future
It is no wonder that the Saints are eager to keep hold of the Englishman, given his fine form this season, underpinning just how important he is to the club by scoring a brace in the crucial 2-1 win away at Everton at the weekend.
Hailed as ‘phenomenal’ by reporter Alfie House, the midfielder netted yet another goal directly from a free-kick, taking him to a tally of 16, just two behind David Beckham, who holds the all-time record with 18.
Southampton have been showing more promising signs in recent matches, winning their last two games, including a very impressive 2-0 victory against Manchester City in the EFL Cup, however they remain in relegation trouble, still bottom of the Premier League table.
Despite Ward-Prowse’s clear affinity for the club, there is no way a player of his quality will want to ply his trade in the Championship next season, and so whether he ends up staying is likely to come down to whether Nathan Jones can dig them out of trouble in the second half of the campaign.