West Ham United have enquired about Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse, confirms Daily Star journalist Paul Brown.

Reports from The Daily Mirror last week claimed Hammers are keen on signing the Saints captain this summer, who is valued at £43m by the CIES Football Observatory.

The links come after the 27-year-old had a great season leading the south-coast side, having been Ralph Hasenhuttl’s top scorer in the Premier League with an impressive ten goals from midfield.

Pundit and Arsenal legend Paul Merson 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, 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.”

The Verdict: Great signing

Described as ‘phenomenal’ 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).

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

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