West Ham have had a verbal offer for midfielder James Ward Prowse rejected according to news reports. It is understood the offer was rejected by Southampton due to the structure of the deal.
The Hammers are believed to have offered Flynn Downes as a sweetener, but only on loan. Whilst the South Coast club are interested in Downes, they will only consider a permanent transfer.
A Verbal offer for midfielder James Ward Prowse has been made by West Ham
From a West Ham perspective, loaning the player to the Saints makes absolute sense. There are still some people within the club who believe Downes has a big future. What is not so clear is why the offer was just a verbal one rather than a written bid.
I’m sure there is much gauging of interest in the murky world of transfers, but West Ham are lagging behind in the race for signings. David Moyes interest in Ward Prowse is long established. As a result, one would expect that the bidding process would be more advanced than just ‘exploratory talks’.
Quite where this leaves Flynn Downes in terms of preparation ahead of a Premier League season is anyone’s guess. Having sold Declan Rice, many were expecting the staunch Hammers fan to used more rather than less.
It’s probably fair to assume that Downes is not in the long-term plans of David Moyes. For that reason he’s being used as a makeweight to try and tempt Southampton to sell.
Clearly the temptation of a loan is not enough of a lure to bring the Saints to the negotiating table. West Ham will have to either stump up the asking price in full or offer Downes as a permanent trade.
Makes zero sense this report. Anyone who has watched Downes in the past 12 months must realise for the club and player saket he needs to be sold. He could be a good player at championship level but offers very little at PL. Secondly if we are seriously considering signing ward prowse we are going nowhere. He is too old to be a box to box midfielder and he us not a defensive midfielder which is what we need.
Madness
Flynn Downes isn’t good enough for the Premier League and never will be. The only think he has in common with Declan Rice is that they were born in the same week.
Downes started seven EPL games last season and West Ham lost every one of them. He needs to go back to a level where he is most likely to play every week – The Championship.
Sad to see players we have submitted bids for, mctominnay, ward prowse and Gallagher. Wait till players like Paqueta see these players being signed. If we sign any of them it will be a complete waste of the money. We are just making Chelsea and united stronger and as for ward prowse what position can he still play in at PL level – remember he led a team to relegation I am sure none of these are on the DOF list. The owners should be ashamed for backing Moyes to spend the rice money. We deseeve everything we get if they back Moyes over the DOF. I really hope the new DOF walks if he is not backed by the board.