In a recent report, Birmingham Mail revealed that Aston Villa remain the favorites to recruit Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse this summer. It was revealed that the bookmakers have priced the Villans at 5/2 to secure the services of the English playmaker during this summer transfer period (via Birmingham Mail).
Ward-Prowse’s Solid Campaign Under Ralph Hasenhüttl’s Stewardship
It was another impressive season for the 26-year-old at St. Mary’s Stadium recently as he continued to put in several solid displays for Ralph Hasenhüttl’s team at the centre of the park. Ward-Prowse appeared in 44 matches for the Saints in the previous campaign, scoring nine goals and picking up seven assists in the process across various competitions.
The Portsmouth-born talent caught the eye by averaging 2.0 tackles, 1.1 interceptions, 1.4 clearances, 1.1 shots, 1.6 key passes and 1.4 crosses per 90 minutes in the Premier League last season. The Southampton captain was even excellent with his ball distribution based on his pass completion rate of 86.4% in the top tier of English football (stats via whoscored).
Ward-Prowse has matured into a decent box-to-box midfielder at the south coast of England and will only get better with each season. Hence, Aston Villa would be wise to engineer a move to bring him to Villa Park in this off-season.
Should The Villans Snap Ward-Prowse Up This Summer?
Ward-Prowse has a wide range of passes in his locker and excels at finding some holes in the opposition backline with his passes going forward. He can whip in some dangerous crosses from open play and set-piece situations and can also strike the ball with power and precision from long range. Ward-Prowse is primarily a central midfielder who is versatile enough to feature as a wide player on the right flank or play down the middle as an attacking midfielder if needed.
The English midfield ace is a natural leader who would add plenty of quality to Dean Smith’s midfield department if the Villans can find a way to get him on board ahead of the new campaign. A playmaker of Ward-Prowse’s skillset ticks all the right boxes in terms of what Smith wants from his midfielders. Hence, the Southampton star will be a great fit for the West Midlands outfit because he will be able to influence the game for them at both ends of the field.
Ward-Prowse would serve as a significant upgrade over Douglas Luiz and could go on to form a solid midfield partnership with John McGinn at Villa Park in the coming seasons. All in all, the Villans can benefit a lot from snapping the Saints midfielder up during this summer transfer window.
