West Ham United transfer news as verbal offer made for James Ward-Prowse
West Ham have made a verbal offer for Southampton captain James Ward-Prowse according to Mail Online reporter Simon Jones.
The 28-year-old dead-ball specialist has been the subject of plenty of speculation after the Saints’ relegation from the Premier League last season and is one of a number of midfielders admired by David Moyes.
Discussing potential transfer targets for the Europa Conference League Champions, he wrote: “A verbal offer has been made for Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse, while talks have taken place over Denis Zakaria of Juventus, Edson Alvarez at Ajax, Leeds United’s Tyler Adams and Scott McTominay is another still in the mix.”
All of this comes only days after the Southampton skipper faced the embarrassment of losing his footing before clearing the bar with a penalty in the Saints’ 1-1 pre-season draw with Goztepe.
Big shoes to fill
It doesn’t matter what midfielder the Irons sign this summer, they’re going to be compared with the excellent impact Declan Rice had in East London whether they’re similar in style or not.
On the pitch Ward-Prowse is very different, his game is all about his range of passing and set-piece ability, rather than Rice’s talent for breaking up play and powerful runs. But one thing they both share is a nature leadership from the middle of the park.
West Ham haven’t had to worry about that for a number of years, the transition in captaincy from Mark Noble to Rice may have even been missed by some it was so smooth and the addition of Ward-Prowse would certainly soften the blow of losing two captains in as many seasons.
However, if Moyes plans to nullify the loss felt by the now Arsenal midfielder’s absence, he may well need to head to his shopping list again for a more defensive-minded player such as the aforementioned Zakaria or McTominay.
In other West Ham news, it will be down to Scott McTominay to decide whether he wants to join the ranks at the London Staidum