Credit: Imago

James Barker

Mon 23 March 2026 9:40, UK

James Ward-Prowse joined Burnley on loan in the winter transfer window, but he’d surely be a better option for West Ham United after Freddie Potts’ performance against Aston Villa.

The experienced midfielder was evidently not in Nuno Espirito Santo’s plans at the London Stadium, and thus was able to seal a temporary switch to relegation rivals Burnley in January.

And whilst he hasn’t been able to turnaround the Clarets’ fortunes as of yet, the 31-year-old has been putting in some impressive individual performances in Scott Parker’s side.

Meanwhile, West Ham saw their two-game unbeaten run in the Premier League ended at Villa Park on Sunday, as Aston Villa ran out 2-0 winners in what was a fairly comfortable afternoon for Unai Emery’s team.

The Hammers were handed a blow before a ball was even kicked at Villa Park too, as Jean-Clair Todibo’s injury in the warm-up forced Nuno to alter his formation, and bring Potts into the starting XI.

Freddie Potts was poor for West Ham against Aston Villa

Potts endured a rough afternoon against Aston Villa, with the 22-year-old central midfielder was largely bypassed by the Villa attackers every time they came forward.

That was perhaps to be expected too, as asking him to come into the side on such short notice was always going to be tough for him, but the youngster hasn’t quite looked ready for a significant first-team role across most of the season so far.

Villa’s midfield just overran West Ham’s with speed and quality, with the likes of Amadou Onana, Ross Barkley, John McGinn and Morgan Rogers all enjoying excellent performances.

As such, it wasn’t all Potts’ faults by any means, as the experienced Tomas Soucek was equally as ineffective in the middle of the park too.

However, the above graphic from Sofascore outlines just how out of the game Potts was at Villa Park, despite completing all of his 24 pass attempts successfully.

He made just one interception, won none of his duels, conceded two fouls and touched the ball just 28 times, before being replaced at half-time for Adama Traore.

James Ward-Prowse would’ve been better option than Potts

In the type of situation presented to Nuno at Villa Park with Todibo’s injury, turning to an experienced campaigner such as Ward-Prowse over Potts would surely have been a far better option for him.

Ward-Prowse has over 400 Premier League appearances under his belt, and that experience is showing at Burnley since he joined the Turf Moor outfit in January.

As per Sofascore, he’s already created three big chances, played five key passes and grabbed an assist in just over 300 minutes of league action for the Clarets.

That’s a brilliant playmaking return for Ward-Prowse, and highlights just how much he can still offer in the top flight if given the opportunity.

So, had West Ham opted to keep him around in January, his introduction over Potts could’ve given the Hammers a considerably better chance of hurting Aston Villa, and moving forward, a better prospect of staying up.