There’s no denying it, Southampton are embroiled in turmoil scarcely seen on the south coast since promotion from the EFL Championship was clinched over a decade ago, in the 11/12 campaign.
Indeed at the nadir of their stay in the Premier League, Saints are four points adrift of safety at the bottom of the table and currently boasting their third permanent manager of the campaign in Ruben Selles.
So much has gone wrong and an engrained sense of deflation seems to have attached itself to St. Mary’s Stadium this season.
However, one shining light that continues to exude coruscating positivity is the club’s captain, leader, legend: James Ward-Prowse.
To be bestowed with the tag ‘club legend’ is often used too freely and nonchalantly these days, but Ward-Prowse, 28-years-old, has been the catalyst for so much of the good fortunes that Saints have unearthed over the past several seasons, and it is no coincidence that his ascension to prominence ran parallel with his outfit’s own eminence among the top-flight crop over the past ten years.
Selles, who has been involved as a first-team coach for the duration of the term, since being promoted to manager, recently encapsulated it with one sweet vignette: “Ward-Prowse is Southampton and Southampton is Ward-Prowse.”
How much is Ward-Prowse worth now?
Since rising through the academy ranks, the Portsmouth-born maestro has plundered 52 goals and 51 assists from 395 appearances, never once donning a shirt of another colour, and the club have hit the jackpot with him.
Now valued at £38m by Football Transfers, the “unbelievable” pro – as lauded by Fara Williams – holds a mammoth hike in value, and if the club were to sell, a lucrative profit would indeed be struck after coming through the youth team for nothing.
Lauded as a “dead-ball specialist” by Squawka, Ward-Prowse is commonly known and endeared across English football for his scintillating, jaw-dropping success perched just outside the penalty box, honing in on the area of deployment for the static ball at his feet.
Ranking among the top 5% of midfielders for non-penalty goals and 11% for shot-creating actions per 90 in Europe’s top five leagues over the last 365 days, as per FBref; and recording an average league rating of 7.27 – Saints’ highest – making 1.6 tackles per match and completing 83% of his passes, via Sofascore, the gem’s rounded and robust arsenal has left his trade invaluable to his club’s success.
Southampton have fallen from their once proud position, safely embedded at the heart of the Premier League, and now teeter on the cusp of preservation among England’s elite.
But with Ward-Prowse pulling the strings and orchestrating the flow, Selles and co stand a good chance of salvaging something from this season and returning to former vigour.
Whatever happens this season, though, Southampton have played a huge blinder by bringing the maestro through for £0 and unearthing a player who is now valued as a multi-million-pound midfielder – a masterstroke by the club.