James Ward-Prowse loan fee emerges at West Ham United after late Nottingham Forest transfer
Nottingham Forest will pay a £5million loan fee to West Ham United for James Ward-Prowse this season, according to Sean Whetstone.
Whetstone reported via West Ham Football on X (31 August) that the Irons will pocket a seven-figure fee for the midfielder after he joined Nuno Espirito Santo’s ranks at the City Ground for the remainder of the season.
Forest’s fee will also cover 100 per cent of the England international’s wages for the remainder of the season after the deal was completed in the final hours of the summer transfer window.
Reports suggest that the deal does not include an option or obligation for the midfielder to make his stay in Nottingham permanent at the end of the season [David Ornstein, 30 August].
Will James Ward-Prowse exit West Ham permanently after Nottingham Forest transfer?
This deal may not have made a lot of sense to a lot of West Ham fans when it was completed, but the financial aspects of the transfer now make it obvious why the Hammers were so willing to get this loan completed.
Not only have the Irons managed to shift the entirety of a first-team wage off of their books, but they have also managed to pocket a strong seven-figure loan fee for Ward-Prowse’s services without including a permanent option.
This feels like a win-win for the Hammers, especially as they don’t expect to be competing directly with Forest for Europe this season.
On top of that, most loan agreements mean that the player isn’t able to feature against their parent club so Julen Lopetegui’s side isn’t even running the risk of conceding to their own player.
Hopefully, West Ham will have enough quality in their ranks to ensure that they won’t regret letting Ward-Prowse exit temporarily this summer.
On paper, the arrival of Carlos Soler should be enough to aid any fears of a lack of creativity in the middle of the park.
In other West Ham news, Paul Merson has predicted the result of the Hammers’ Premier League clash with Manchester City
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