Aston Villa are reportedly preparing a new offer for Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse, but the club’s CEO has seemingly ruled out an exit.
Villa have been busy this summer with the signings of Emiliano Buendia, Ashley Young, Leon Bailey, Danny Ings and Axel Tuanzebe all being secured to strengthen the squad.
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However, it appears as though our work in the transfer window isn’t over, with The Telegraph reporting that we’re preparing a new bid for Ward-Prowse, having already had a £25m offer rejected by the Saints for their influential midfielder and skipper.
It’s added that Tottenham are also keen on the 26-year-old, while Watford and Everton have shown interest in Marvelous Nakamba, as Villa could be set for a reshuffle in midfield.
Having just sold Ings to us and with Jannik Vestergaard on his way out too, it seems unlikely that Southampton would sell another of their important players and in this case, club captain.
That’s the message that was sent by club CEO Martin Semmens prior to the report of Villa seemingly pressing ahead with their pursuit of the England international.
“What is important to say is how important he is to us. He is an important player in the Premier League and every team would want him but for us, he is beyond that level,” Semmens said, as quoted by Hampshire Live.
“I have a list of the six new players in front of me and at least half, when they signed, said that they’re here because of the city, the manager and also to play with James Ward-Prowse – especially the younger ones.
“He has incredible value to us. He Ioved being here and we don’t see any reason why that would change.”
That would suggest that it’s going to be difficult to convince Southampton to give an exit the green light this summer, and so it remains to be seen whether or not an improved offer tests their resolve or simply wastes our time in our search of midfield reinforcements.
Any new bid would be welcome sooner rather than later to bring a conclusion to the matter one way or the other, as with our Premier League season opener against Watford fast approaching this weekend, it would be ideal to have any new faces in as quickly as possible.
