James Ward-Prowse

[Kuwabatake Sanjuro]

If this is a runner I'd say his closeness to Matt Targett might be playing a role. Southampton are a club in decline/going nowhere also.

[dont_do_it_doug.]

1 hour ago, sne said:

Only 5ft 8 and 66 kilos thou according to the internet. Smaller than all our current CM's 

He looks solid though and Nakamba can't be much bigger. 

I actually *watched* JWP for the first time tonight and thought he was fantastic. Admittedly, it was against a weak Romania team, but his energy was clear to see. He does the simple things very well and as previously discussed his dead ball delivery is genuinely Conor-esq. 

I appreciate there are people who want a big bastard DM and I understand why, but I'm not convinced that is the road Smith wants to go down. It can be an option we retain, but it won't be our go-to. A midfield quartet of McGinn, Luiz, Sanson and Ward-Prowse all competing for 2/3 starting spots and a Nakamba in reserve as the specialist, whilst JJ goes out on loan to a decent Championship club, could be just the ticket behind that magnificent front line. 

Would cost us a lot of money to find out, but nobody said progress was going to come cheap. 

[dont_do_it_doug.]

20 minutes ago, villaglint said:

Main issue for me is how achievable this is to get over line. Clearly the club must think they’ve got a chance but why would Southampton want to sell? Maybe he’s a the point where he feels he needs a move to progress. I’d imagine he’ll be gutted to miss the Euros. 

As I understand it Southampton are in big trouble financially. Their supporters feel they need to refresh the squad too in order to stave off a relegation battle and to do that they will need money. 

Why wouldn't Ward-Prowse want to come to a club like Villa? 

[Okonokos]

3 minutes ago, dont_do_it_doug. said:

As I understand it Southampton are in big trouble financially. Their supporters feel they need to refresh the squad too in order to stave off a relegation battle and to do that they will need money. 

Why wouldn't Ward-Prowse want to come to a club like Villa? 

Turns out Ward-Prowse and his family are Portsmouth fans too. I never knew that. May not be as difficult to tempt him away as some thought.

[villaglint]

2 minutes ago, dont_do_it_doug. said:

As I understand it Southampton are in big trouble financially. Their supporters feel they need to refresh the squad too in order to stave off a relegation battle and to do that they will need money. 

Why wouldn't Ward-Prowse want to come to a club like Villa? 

Oh yeah I definitely see it as a good move for him. But I don’t see him as the type to force a move. Maybe it works for all sides. Let’s hope so because if Deano and co think he’s the man then that plenty enough for me. 

Not seen any figures mentioned. What do people think the fee could be? An England international who has goals and assists consistently in the PL from midfield. Seems like that would be a hefty fee to me. 

[Delphinho123]

There’s a few comments on here comparing his dead ball delivery to Conor. I think that’s extremely harsh on JWP, with the utmost respect to Connor. 

JWP’s set pieces are twice what Connors were. 

When I first saw the link, I was a bit ‘meh’ because of the players we have in that position but I’ve come round to this and I think he’d be a superb addition. In fact, if he were the only other addition on top of Buendia this summer, I’d class it as an excellent Summer. 75m, job done. 

[Rightdm00]

Hourihane not athletic enough for the Prem so we just up and bid for the upgraded version.  HAHAHA I love this so much.  Even if this doesn't come off you know we aren't messing around.  

 

[Lord Willard]

People have wanted Kalvin Phillips. Tonight JWP was twice the player.

[TrentVilla]

1 hour ago, sne said:

Only 5ft 8 and 66 kilos thou according to the internet. Smaller than all our current CM's 

I could be wrong but I read this as being a negative or question mark against him? Apologies if incorrect.

I think it is an interesting point if it was though because I think it is a slightly dated view in todays football.

There was a time when CM's had to be big physical units, like Viera or Papa Bouba Diop but I think that time is passed in football, the game is changing or has changed.

Physicality is becoming less important, in terms of physical size and strength and is now more about different physical attributes like pace and athleticism.

I think we will over the next few years see the average height of players decrease as the nature of the game changes.

[GENTLEMAN]

I think there are similarities in our transfer of Barry to City. Who, at that point were our ‘rivals’, although the writing was on the wall. That said, Barry did kick up a fuss, professing a want to play CL football and thought that it was more likely with City. No such rumblings from JWP. It seems that if it was to come to pass it would be Southampton that were ‘entertaining’ it, in a bid to create revenue to reinvest in other parts of the squad.

Edited June 6, 2021 by GENTLEMAN

[Zhan_Zhuang]

I like Ward-Prowse, had a debate with someone here in the Summer Transfer thread a few months ago.

So I spent awhile comparing his statistics with McGinn, he outperforms McGinn and he is clinical from free-kicks which we so drastically need.

If Buendia is close to £40million what is Ward-Prowse worth? Maybe Saints need our money?

[sne]

Just now, TrentVilla said:

I could be wrong but I read this as being a negative or question mark against him? Apologies if incorrect.

I think it is an interesting point if it was though because I think it is a slightly dated view in todays football.

There was a time when CM's had to be big physical units, like Viera or Papa Bouba Diop but I think that time is passed in football, the game is changing or has changed.

Physicality is becoming less important, in terms of physical size and strength and is now more about different physical attributes like pace and athleticism.

I think we will over the next few years see the average height of players decrease as the nature of the game changes.

Personally I much rather have mobility, intelligence and a whole bunch of other attributes over height and brutality but there has been some vocal calls for bringing in a physically imposing DCM on here.

Fwiw I think our CM's are a bit samey-samey so it's not without some merit.

[TrentVilla]

2 minutes ago, sne said:

Personally I much rather have mobility, intelligence and a whole bunch of other attributes over height and brutality but there has been some vocal calls for bringing in a physically imposing DCM on here.

Fwiw I think our CM's are a bit samey-samey so it's not without some merit.

I agree, I think mobility and intelligence are the most important attributes in a DCM in todays game. I'm not convinced a physically imposing DCM is what we need particularly.

I think the issue is we only really have Nakamba who is a DCM and he isn't quick enough and doesn't read the game well enough. We need someone like Ndidi from Leicester, I know he is 6ft but that isn't really his main attribute.

[GingerCollins29]

Is he not the southampton version of Grealish? Boyhood fan, one club man, captain, stand out player?

I'd be amazed if we get this over the line

[mjmooney]

1 minute ago, GingerCollins29 said:

Is he not the southampton version of Grealish? Boyhood fan, one club man

You obviously haven't been reading the thread. 

 

[Philosopher]

6 minutes ago, TrentVilla said:

I agree, I think mobility and intelligence are the most important attributes in a DCM in todays game. I'm not convinced a physically imposing DCM is what we need particularly.

I think the issue is we only really have Nakamba who is a DCM and he isn't quick enough and doesn't read the game well enough. We need someone like Ndidi from Leicester, I know he is 6ft but that isn't really his main attribute.

I'd say we would benefit from having a a tall specialist DCM in the squad. For some opponents having extra height would be useful. I think we would benefit from adding a Koopmenieers type player for example.

However I believe JWP would be perfect for us. His energy, tenacity, and passing would fit nicely between Luiz and McGinn, and his set pieces would address a clear weakness. So I'm all for this.

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

26 minutes ago, Lord Willard said:

People have wanted Kalvin Phillips. Tonight JWP was twice the player.

Nigel Reo Coker with a man bun.

[Annoyman]

I don't think the boyhood fan/captain stuff matters that much either way anyway in most cases, as it may not turn out to with Grealish before long

JWP does feel implausible in a way Buendia didn't though; it's hard to see envision Southampton being willing to sell him at a price Villa should be willing to pay given our other pressing priorities at full back and CF

The other thing I don't get : I know people are routinely dismissing the Twitter talking point that Buendia signing means Grealish must be going but, their positions being different aside,  if we're not selling Grealish (if), how are we meant to keep spending £100m+ on players like this every summer without getting rinsed by Financial Fair Play? We don't have all the fictional revenue streams Man City have set up to be able to circumvent it

 

 

Edited June 6, 2021 by Annoyman

[sidcow]

59 minutes ago, mjmooney said:

Size is doesn't matter. As I always tell the wife. 

Mines six inches but I don't use it as a rule. 

[TrentVilla]

Just now, sidcow said:

Mines six inches but I don't use it as a rule. 

That is married life for you...