West Ham’s potential midfield overhaul looks to have produced a surprising casualty. The arrivals of new players and the need to balance the squad have led to speculation surrounding the futures of several midfielders, but in a surprising twist, James Ward Prowse could be on on the chopping block.
Ward-Prowse, a key figure last term, now faces an uncertain future under Julen Lopetegui. The manager’s preference for a different style of play, coupled with the arrival of new midfield options, has massively reduced the former Saints playing time prospects.
However, the new coach’s decision to play Tomas Soucek for 90 minutes was a decision which surprised most fans. It may be early days but the decision does not bode well for JWP with Carlos Soler also expected to arrive.
At the moment it appears that there are few, if any suitable bids for any of the exit-linked players, Ward Prowse included. Also the seemingly forgotten winger, Maxwel Cornet, who may have hoped for a new beginning at the London Stadium but after failing to make the first squad under Lopetegui and seeing Luis Guilherme and Crysencio Summerville arrive this summer his prospects also still look dim.
The potential departure of these players has become something of a necessity for the club to recoup some of the money spent in a busy transfer window and it could be that a late deal for Ward Prowse could be on the cards.
Not to mention Andy Irvine.
I would have liked to see JWP sold and replaced by Smith-Rowe; in addition why didn’t we bite the bullet & pay what was required for Duran – a much better prospect than Fullkrug & would have an appreciable sell on value. Saturday showed we lack pace in both defence & attack. Also Mavropanos clearly not good enough, as we saw last season. A lot of players bought but only marginal improvements
“A lot of players bought but only marginal improvements”
… so far, after just ONE GAME. Watch this space!
Smith Rowe recently signed for Fulham
Def need a pacey striker , would be surprised if it was Duran but never say never . Ok selling ward- Prowse, Cornet, or any other fringe player and of course Aguerd
Good ! thank god jwp is absolutely garbage never understood why we signed him, he has zero effect in game play and as for his so called free kicks “ well he hasn’t bagged one yet in how many attempts “ aimlessly jogs around doing nothing, the exact same as the other useless **** soucek! both have hindered us in our play, teams can play straight through us like we are a man down ….he just needs to make room in his taxi for soucek , and if you clear the boot out you could also get the hair transplant in there
So we get rid of the useful members of our squad and end up with just the new signings and loans?
That would be a totally idiotic way to manage the squad. I thought JLo said he wanted 2 players for each position?
If we were to go for the cups and have injuries, who plays when we don’t want to risk the certain first-team starters?
Ward-Prowse is seen as key to assisting Füllkrug and the pair could be seen discussing what was needed while waiting the looong time for JLo to make the far too late substitutions.
We need to find a solution for Antonio, Ings, Cornet, Zouma, and possibly Mavrapanos (who improved as the game went on).
The problem is our previous transfer regime in paying silly money for players with a history of injuries in their previous clubs, and paying them a fortune just to get them here.
Hopefully those days are over, but it’s left us with expensive players who nobody wants, and never did.
Zero interest by any other club for Ings, Cornet and Zouma who was already the most crippled of all of them before he arrived FFS.
Sullivan having his dirty pants pulled down by savvy clubs time and time again. That is our ongoing problem, and always will be. A grossly disrespected figure prone to being taken for a ride at our expense.
I would imagine he is, he is a great professional but his positioning is awful and other than his free kicks and effort he doesn’t effect games that much. If I understand it correctly Soler is quite good with dead balls also.