According to various media sources James Ward Prowse is under scrutiny from both Chelsea and Manchester City but the bg question is why ?

James Ward Prowse is an emerging talent in the Premier league, Captain of the England U21 side for this season and tipped for a full cap sooner than later, indeed today HITC Sport are running a story saying

"Chelsea and Manchester City are both keeping regular tabs on Southampton star James Ward-Prowse, HITC Sport understands from sources close to the mooted interest.

Ward-Prowse, the new England Under-21 captain, is making fine strides on the South Coast at St Mary’s.

With nearly 100 first-team games under his belt, he is already emerging as one of the best young English prospects in the Premier League."

But why are these big clubs interested in Ward Prowse ? whilst he in indeed an emerging talent he would not be considered an automatic choice in the Saints side unlike some of the players that have recently come through the academy and been sold for big bucks.

Since making his League debut for Saints in the opening game of the 2012/13 season JWP has only managed a total of 38 starts in the Premier League plus another 40 appearances as substitute.

That is a good total for someone who will not be 21 till November of this year, but it is not the stats of a player who is considered a first team regular.

It cannot be denied he is great talent but as of yet he has not tuned that potential into consistent form that deands that he be picked.

The problem is just where do you play him ? he has yet to define one role as his forte, his passing and shooting ability suggest that he could be a number 10 as they say in the modern game, but he has not turned that ability into end product as of yet, his delivery to create chances is not consistent enough especially from dead ball situations and so far he has only one goal to his name in the league and that was a penalty against Hull City last season.

Most Saints fans will tell you that now is a crucial time for JWP, he needs to start to impose himself on games, take them by the scruff of the neck and be the difference between a draw and a win, but he has yet to do that.

In the last home game against Norwich City he showed signs that he might be starting to do just that, however a week later at West Brom he was average at best.

This makes it all the stranger as to why City & Chelsea should be interested, indeed why they should be leaking that interest, if JWP cannot be first choice in a Saints side, where would he be in the pecking order at either of those clubs.

There is no doubt that James ward Prowse is a player of Premier League qulity, the only question is what sort of career will he have, will he make that step up at St Mary's and be spoken of in the same tone as allana & Schniederlin once were, will he stay at the same level as he is now, a good squad player, will he go to a big club and they find his true calling, or will he go to a big club and disappear like a number of young hopefuls have done over the last decade.

Every Saints fan hope that he finds his form at Saints and that he goes on to emulate some of the greats that have come through our academy, he has the ability, perhaps he just needs to find the confidence.

Photo: Action Images

legod7 added 14:50 - Sep 15 It is obvious HITC Sports don't know a lot about football. They know that English teams in the Champions League will soon have to up their quota of English players. So they probably looked at the U21 team and looked at the squad of players and noted that JWP has been made captain by Gareth Southgate. The same Gareth Southgate who was sacked by Middlesbrough after they were relegated.

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saintsnutcase added 15:01 - Sep 15 I may be missing something here but I have not seen much evidence of "great talent" so far. He is a long way behind the likes of Oxlade, Walcott, Shaw and maybe even Lallana at the same age - let alone Bale! He does have a great attitude though. I am interested that Koeman said last week that his best position may be defensive midfield but how does go get in the side ahead of Wanyama and Romeu in that position?

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ExiledSupporter added 15:10 - Sep 15 Frequent references to his talent are at best aspirational since he largely disappoints in most games that he starts. I'm a bit unclear why we don't give Ramirez an extended run like we give JWP, though only at No.10. He has a better pass and shot and goals scored than JWP though admittedly his injury record is dire, so what have we got to lose while Clasie is recovering? If someone is willing to pay over the odds for Ward-Prowse I'd ship him out. Can anyone tell me why our renowned talent spotting failed to identify Payet as the best value No. 10 around, how did we let him go to Wham over the summer; were we obsessed by getting Clasie...who I hope will be the hub of our midfield once he has settled in?

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BaselSaint added 15:17 - Sep 15 All I know is that the midfield is not supporting our attack enough and JWP is part of that situation... less square passes and 5 minute build ups and more goals please. Anything else is just BS and a distraction.
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saintsnutcase added 15:37 - Sep 15 @exiled supporter I thought we looked at Payet and decided to go for Clasie instead. However, WHam had a better window than us, I reckon.
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Jesus_02 added 16:15 - Sep 15 @saintsnutcase Payet was a good signing granted but I can’t see much else there Jelavic? Antonio? I may be proved wrong but VVD and Romeu are pretty good on their own. With regard to JWP, he could really do with going on a journey similar to Morgans. If (and it’s a big if) he could start bossing midfield then we could have a decent player on our hands. He had a great game against Norwich but that’s because he played with confidence. That confidence will come from playing with a settled back four or by dominating play at a lower level. A bit like Target he has suffered because of instability elsewhere.

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saintsnutcase added 17:17 - Sep 15 They also renewed Jenkinson and Song and got Moses. And they got the centre back (Ogbonna?)we were looking at before we got VVD. Having said that, we didn't do badly with VVD, Classie, Soares, Romeu
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ElSanto added 19:05 - Sep 15 Not consistent enough from dead ball situations!!!??? Do you need your eye balls replaced?
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perazi added 20:53 - Sep 15 You say there's no doubt JWP is a Prem League quality player, but I would say there are huge doubts. As he approaches 100 games for SFC (and I think I've seen most of them) I cannot remember one where he really imposed himself on the game and I find myself puzzled as he approaches his 21st birthday with virtually no sign of improvement or defined skill to his game - dead ball delivery aside - that people think he is going to be some sort of superstar of the game. If a big Club; or any EPL Club came in for him I couldn't get the contract signed quick enough. To my mind he appears to be the waving of the Academy flag at a time when the quality on show is bare. I feel for a player like Harry Reed who is already (imo) a better Footballer, with something tangible to offer.

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BUCK added 23:04 - Sep 15 Please ignore. Hitc is as bad as the daily mail
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zonehead added 05:29 - Sep 16 I'm disappointed he gets in over Reed who Ron doesn't appear to rate
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TimSaint added 12:22 - Sep 16 Same old same old media agenda against Saints. Having had the Fonte, Mane and Wanyama potential moves quashed by Saints and the window now over, the press in general continue to pick Saints players and invent potential moves in order to fill space. Prowsey is seen by many in the press as the next English star to roll off the Saints production line, so base their stories around him. Because of the agenda they have with us, this is an unfortunate and continuing chain. We have allegedly had Jay Rod and JWP being linked with moves to Man City and Spurs/Arsenal in the past, so I am sure the next player to hit any sort of form will be the next press target. Remember when Sam Gallagher scored his debut Saints goal, he was immediately linked with a move to Chelsea ? I am sure it is only a matter of time before they start Seager stories !! It is best to take everything from the press as idle gossip until you see something on the official site / club statement.

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jmsaint added 14:11 - Sep 16 What people seem to forget is that he is ONLY 21. He has played a huge amount of games for his age, but it really is no surprise that he isn't 'bossing' every game. If in 3-4 years time he is still where he is now people can start to question him. Another point that really grinds me is the 'why didn't out great talent scouts spot...' (Enter payer, ayew, etc) we should have signed him. People seem to forget that these other teams are also trying to sign players. It's not as though simply by being involved we could sign anyone! The team is taking a while to gel, but Bertie back this week and clasie next, we should start to push on. Judge after 15+ games into the season, atm a run of 3 wins would put us in the top 4!

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SanMarco added 00:53 - Sep 17 This season is a very big one for JWP - another few performances like Saturday and he will be out of the first team. That moment in the second half when Pelle knocked it down to him and all he needed to do was control it to be in on goal - though come to think of it he can't shoot either... He did win possession and create the first against Norwich but he doesn't do enough and is 21 really that young jmsaint?

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