James Ward-Prowse will be allowed to leave Southampton if they’re relegated and Newcastle could swoop

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Newcastle United have recently been linked with an interest in Southampton’s free-kick wizard James Ward-Prowse.

Southampton‘s Premier League status is very much under threat with the Saints looking nailed on to drop into the Championship.

Once upon a time that would have been good news for Newcastle as Southampton were something of a bogey team for us. While that’s not the case anymore, there could still be good news to come from this as TalkSPORT claim Southampton’s captain, James Ward-Prowse has been told he can leave if they are relegated.

Ward-Prowse is one free-kick goal away from Beckham’s record

Newcastle striker Callum Wilson had previously said he’d expect JWP to move if Southampton go down. On The Footballer’s Football Podcast in March, Wilson was talking about Ward-Prowse aiming to beat David Beckham‘s free kick record in the Premier League.

“Will he break Beckham’s record? He’s going to want to break a record and, if that means that Southampton get relegated, he’s going to want to play in the Premier League to try and achieve that” Wilson said.

Now there’s a chance that he could break Beckham’s record in the black and white of Newcastle as the Magpies are one of several clubs interested in ‘unbelievable’ Ward-Prowse who was recently priced at £50million.

The England international needs to score just one more free-kick to equal Beckham’s tally of 18, so there’s a chance that he could break the record this season while still at the Saints.

Ward-Prowse is much more than a dead-ball specialist

For all everyone knows Ward-Prowse for his insane free-kick ability, there’s actually a lot more to his game and he could be a brilliant addition to the Newcastle squad as they look to bolster their midfield options. He’s played every minute for Saints this season scoring seven goals (three from free-kicks) and providing two assists from a central midfield position.

If he were to come to Newcastle that would definitely relegate Kieran Trippier to deputy dead-ball specialist. Not that we ever get free-kicks in dangerous areas these days anyway.

He often finds himself in the England squad although he’s not managed to nail down a regular spot for Gareth Southgate. That could be down to him playing in a struggling Southampton side. We all know how easily overlooked good players are when their team is down the bottom of the league.

I’m a big fan of JWP but I think paying £50million might be a bit too much. If Southampton are relegated maybe we can shave a few million off the asking price, but with Tottenham, Aston Villa and Manchester United all keen too, Southampton won’t be short of leverage to hike the price up.