Southampton have been busy recently to secure each of Ralph Hasenhuttl, Shane Long and Will Smallbone to extended contracts – and it looks like more could be on the way.
According to the Sun’s Football Reporter Tom Barclay, Saints have begun negotiations with James Ward-Prowse to extend the two years he has left on his current deal.
If the club manage to tie their midfielder and set-piece specialist down for longer then it could well be a huge boost for the future of the club under Hasenhuttl.
The Saints boss has confirmed that Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg will not hold the captain’s armband if he remains at the club next season.
Given his much-improved role since Hasenhuttl’s arrival and his history with the club, Ward-Prowse looks to be the ideal candidate to take over.
Understand #saintsfc have begun talks to extend James Ward-Prowse's contract, which currently has 2yrs left. They're already in negotiations over doing the same for Ryan Bertrand, who has 1yr left. Shane Long, Will Smallbone & boss Ralph Hasenhuttl all recently signed new deals
— Tom Barclay (@TomBarclay_) June 14, 2020
An indication that this might be the case was seen in Friday’s friendly win over Bristol City at St Mary’s. Ward-Prowse was given the armband over Hojbjerg as both players were on the pitch for the same amount of the game.
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Ward-Prowse has been with Saints since the age of eight and has made 269 appearances since breaking into the first-team back in 2012.
In that time, he has scored 23 goals and made 33 assists, but his improvement going forward in the last two years is highlighted by the fact that he has scored 11 times since Ralph Hasenhuttl arrived in late 2018.
At 25, he is still yet to reach his peak after being a rather late bloomer. However, he will now have extra responsibilities in the next few years.
The Saints strategy has always been to bring through youngsters of real potential, and Ward-Prowse was one of those himself.
He will know what it takes to become successful at the club and will be huge in guiding the next crop who make the step up to senior level.
Interestingly, Tom Barclay also states that Ryan Bertrand is in talks with the club over a new deal too (also reported by the Telegraph)- he will be able to give similar guidance in an otherwise youthful team.