Relegated Southampton are almost certain to be without their England midfielder James Ward-Prowse next season but his next destination won’t be Newcastle United as things stand.
Newcastle have been said to be keen on James Ward-Prowse as a potential signing to add to their midfield engine and the fact that Southampton have been relegated from the Premier League suggested that the move would be an easy one.
However, The Telegraph has suggested that Southampton want over £50million for the dead-ball specialist and Newcastle will be reluctant to pay that given that he turns 29 later this year.
Ward-Prowse has more to his game than just free-kicks
Ward-Prowse is an undeniable talent, highly praised for his free-kick taking ability but also, so often underrated when it comes to everything else. He has a superb engine on him and almost all of Southampton’s creative play went through him last season.
The feeling is, though, that at 28-years-old, he’s the wrong age for Eddie Howe and Dan Ashworth to be looking at bringing in at the £50million mark.
I support that decision. As much as I like Ward-Prowse and would love to see him at Newcastle next season, at £50million you’d want that player to be playing every game for the team and I don’t think Ward-Prowse just walks into our starting XI even as it stands.
Newcastle have a dead-ball specialist already on the books
Even if Howe did bring in Ward-Prowse, I highly doubt he’d be the only midfielder brough in which would give him even more competition. Yes, his dead-ball abilities make him stand out from the competition, but we do still have Kieran Trippier who is no slouch.
Not to mention, we are hot favourites to sign Dominik Szoboszlai who is pretty handy from free-kicks himself.
If Southampton feel they can get £50million for Ward-Prowse, good luck to them, but I wouldn’t expect Newcastle to be going anywhere near him until his price comes down by at least £10million.
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