Rijo Sam Daniel
West Ham United and Newcastle United join Manchester United in James Ward-Prowse transfer pursuit
According to The Mirror, West Ham United and Newcastle United have entered the race to sign James Ward-Prowse from Southampton in this summer transfer window.
According to The Sun, Manchester United have already expressed their interest in securing Ward-Prowse’s signature to bolster their midfield ahead of the next season.
Erik ten Hag is keen to strengthen his midfield options with the 2022/23 campaign edging closer by the day. He has identified Ward-Prowse as one of his top targets for that reason but would now need to deal with added competition from several Premier League sides.
West Ham and Newcastle are looking to build on their current project with midfield reinforcements this summer. As such, the Red Devils would need to take their interests seriously if they hope to complete a move for Ward-Prowse to meet their needs.
More transfer concerns for Man Utd?
Bolstering the midfield should be one of the priorities for the Manchester board this summer, considering the departures we had in that role. The likes of Nemanja Matic, Paul Pogba, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard have been released by the club on free transfers.
We are chasing after Barcelona ace Frenkie de Jong right now to replace Matic, but we need to make other signings as well. While Pogba has not always performed at his best, there is no doubt that replacing him would be quite difficult for us at this point.
Ward-Prowse would be a solid option for that reason, especially looking at his progress in the past few seasons. In fact, he has developed his game to be more defensively solid during that period, which makes him an even more attractive proposition if ten Hag sticks with the 4-2-3-1 formation beyond this summer.
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We have not made any progress in reinforcing the squad so far, which is concerning, to say the least. Now, teams like West Ham and Newcastle, who are closing in on the “Big 6” clubs, are trying to make that happen with the England international’s addition this summer.
We need to remain on our toes at all times for that reason, but our immediate priority should be to learn about the Saints and the 27-year-old’s stance on a potential exit. After all, pursuing a lost cause would be a waste of time, so our focus should be to clear that out right now.
