Saints have announced that James Ward Prowse has agreed a new 5 year deal at the club, most supporters will be delighted in the move as Ralph Hasenhuttl looks to stabilise and add to his squad for the forthcoming season.

At times James Ward Prowse has had his critics in the Saints support, but the truth is he has been a valued member of the first team squad for 8 years now and in the past 21 months since Ralph Hasenhuttl arrived at the club he has matured and started to blossom under the Austrian.

No one doubted that JWP had talent, what he had failed to do with consistency though was show the confidence and aggression to take that to the next level, almost immediately he seemed to be a new player, he no longer looked like he was surprised to be out on the pitch, he seemed to want to own it and knew he deserved to be there on merit.

There will still be some that will say he is not good enough, but most of them can't forget the past and still view him from years ago when he was a youngster trying to shine firstly in a struggling side, then in a good side under Ronald Koeman and then back to struggling again, as a home grown player he has had to learn in front of a harsh crowd, but he has learn't well and it has taken him time but he fully deserves this new contract.

The Saints press release is as follows:

Southampton Football Club is delighted to announce that its captain, James Ward-Prowse, has signed a new five-year contract at St Mary’s.

The 25-year-old midfielder, who has been with Saints since the age of eight, agreed the new deal ahead of the 2020/21 season and is now set to take his association with the club beyond 20 years as a result.

Ward-Prowse, a former England Under-21 captain who has been capped twice at senior level for his country, represents another shining example of the club’s Academy and its reputation for developing young talent, progressing all the way through the junior ranks to become an integral member of the first-team, before taking the armband in the latter stages of the most recent season.

It is almost a decade ago now, in October 2011, that Ward-Prowse made his first-team debut, before being handed the first of his 231 Premier League appearances to date in August 2012.

Ward-Prowse, who achieved the incredible feat of playing every minute of the latest Premier League campaign, has featured a total of 278 times for the senior team across all competitions already in his career, scoring 24 goals.

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhüttl said:

“I have said before that Prowsey is a player who shows everything that Southampton Football Club is about.

“It is not only his story of being developed as a player here, but also the commitment and attitude he shows in his work. He was not playing so much when I arrived, but he has listened and worked on every aspect of his game, and that is why he has reached the level he is now at.

“He has a passion for the club that everybody knows about, and he is respected by everyone here. I know he is a role model for our younger players especially, and these are all reasons why he was the right choice to be a long-term captain of this team and this club.

“He deserves congratulations for this contract and this is very good news for our team and our club.”

James Ward-Prowse said:

“I think everybody knows it's a club that's very close to my heart.

“I started out here as an eight-year-old and just had that goal of wanting to reach the first-team, and my appreciation for the club is so big, because the people within it and the infrastructure has allowed me to follow my dream as a young boy who wanted to play professional football.

“They've given me every opportunity and every helping hand along the way to reach that target and for me again it's another opportunity to repay that faith to everybody who's played a part in my journey up until now.

“Not just within the team, but the club, I really feel that it's an exciting period for us. I think we've regained our identity as a team and I think we're heading in the right direction towards where we believe we can go as a club.

“We've certainly got the infrastructure and the people around here to make that happen, and it's up to us now to go and work hard in these next few weeks and ensure that we start the season the way that we finished the last one.”

Photo: Action Images

ElijahK added 16:19 - Aug 17 Well he’s certainly a decent pl midfielder and every season has shown improvement! I mean he showed guts teaching the jerk zaha, not to mess with him and really got under his skin! He’s probably the best set price player we’ve had since Le God scoring some important and certainly impressive free kicks, and is certainly a loyal player who I think will be a great captain and will help players like Smallbone improve and progress! Well as long as he plays out his contract that’ll be another testimonial we’ll be going to (I’d like to see another promoted vs now team version, like we did for Kelvin (though of course not the promoted team but another version))! But he dam well deserves it!

3

HythePeer added 16:39 - Aug 17 You would think with all that talent other clubs would want him. 🤔
-2

felly1 added 17:29 - Aug 17 This is excellent news. A really good Premier league midfielder in my opinion. Coming into his prime years. Yes he's not Kevin De Bruyne but most Saints fans are thankfully realistic enough to understand that we are not going to have players of that calibre at our club or if we did they barely stay for 1 season.
6

NewburySaint added 19:40 - Aug 17 Good News! Was never his biggest fan previously but last season was by far his best season in which he matured as a player immensely.
0

SanMarco added 20:11 - Aug 17 He has improved. This deal sets him up for a 'big move' in a year or two's time ala Lallana but he would have to improve a lot more to interest the clubs that HythePeer rightly hints are not interested at the moment.
3

perazi added 22:18 - Aug 17 Until the season just completed, any objective observer would say JWP was fortunate to get the continuing opportunities. It was the disconnect between the hype he was given and the rather mediocre performances which was most puzzling. To JWP's (and Ralph's) credit, he has lifted his game to a consistently higher level - with a more aggressive, pressing style and more consistent (and attacking) touch and passing. His work rate and energy are excellent.

2

SaintPaulVW added 22:50 - Aug 17 Well deserved. Since Ralph has taken over, he has shown a big improvement in aggression and leadership. I used to feel that he was just on the park for his dead ball skills. Now he is a solid midfielder who with those added skills earns his place as one of the first names on the team sheet.
2

SaintBrock added 15:08 - Aug 18 Another era of gold-plated 5-year pension deals?
-3

Blogs 31 bloggers

Southampton Polls