---
title: "West Ham: Paul Brown shares James Ward-Prowse latest"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/west-ham-james-ward-prowse-declan-rice-transfer-news-latest-rumours/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Will Seager"
section: "Follow up"
published: "2022-06-21T11:17:32Z"
modified: "2022-06-21T12:09:57Z"
---

# West Ham: Paul Brown shares James Ward-Prowse latest

**[West Ham United](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/west-ham-news/) have enquired about Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse, confirms Daily Star journalist Paul Brown.**

### **The Lowdown: Ward-Prowse links**

Reports from [The Daily Mirror](https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/west-ham-transfer-ward-prowse-27245596) last week claimed Hammers are keen on signing the Saints captain this summer, who is valued at £43m by the [CIES Football Observatory.](https://football-observatory.com/-values-67163)

The links come after the 27-year-old had a great season leading the south-coast side, having been Ralph Hasenhuttl’s[top scorer](https://www.espn.com/soccer/team/stats/_/id/376/scoring) in the [Premier League](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/premier-league-news/) with an impressive ten goals from midfield.

Pundit and Arsenal legend [Paul Merson](https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/arsenal-transfer-ward-prowse-merson-27258783) has even urged the Gunners to sign the free-kick specialist, such has been the extent of his red-hot form, but it appears as though the Irons’ interest is the most concrete.

### **The Latest: Moyes loves him**

Brown believes that West Ham are definitely interested in signing Ward-Prowse this summer and want him to go straight into the first XI, but it may be too difficult to get a deal over the line.

Speaking with [GiveMeSport,](https://www.givemesport.com/88023822-west-ham-have-asked-about-bringing-phenomenal-43m-star-to-london-stadium) he claimed:

“Ward-Prowse would be someone you’d expect to go straight into that team. How you’d get him in the system they play, I’m not entirely sure. It might require a bit of a tweak, but David Moyes is definitely a big fan and they have asked about James Ward-Prowse.

“That would not be an easy one to do and will probably cost quite a lot of money because he’s Southampton’s centrepiece, one-club man, captain, they want to build around him and the manager absolutely loves him for everything he does, not just on the pitch but off it as well.”

\[freshpress-quiz id=”398176″\]

### **The Verdict: Great signing**

Described as [‘phenomenal’](https://talksport.com/football/1099694/man-utd-transfer-ward-prowse-beckham-free-kick-record-world-cup-2022/) by former Saints teammate Charlie Austin, it is easy to see why the Hammers would be keen to partner Declan Rice with Ward-Prowse in the middle of the park.

When compared with positional peers across Europe over the past year, the 27-year-old ranks in the 92nd percentile for expected assists, in the 90th percentile for shot-creating actions and in the 88th percentile for non-penalty goals (via [FB Ref](https://fbref.com/en/players/3515d404/James-Ward-Prowse)).

\[freshpress-poll id=”399108″\]

Therefore, with such a range of brilliant underlying attacking numbers, Ward-Prowse could bring a perfect balance with the more defensively-minded Rice.

***In other news: [David Moyes is eyeing Mauro Icardi…](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/west-ham-news/west-ham-david-moyes-eyeing-mauro-icardi/)***