With this £20 million James Ward-Prowse replacement, West Ham can get better both with and without the ball.
Players who don’t see James Ward-Prowse every week seem to think he’s a better all-around player than he actually is. Although the West Ham United player is a very effective player and an excellent set-piece taker, he rarely performs at the same level as the top central midfielders in the Premier League in live play, which may be the reason the Hammers are ready to bring him in for a replacement.
According to two different claims circulating in the media, the whole tale is revealed. The only thing standing in the way of West Ham and Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Carlos Soler’s £20 million agreement, according to numerous reports over the past few weeks, is that Julen Lopetegui’s team needs to sell some players in order to get the necessary money. That was all rather simple, but more recent reports that the Spaniard is trying to let Ward-Prowse depart provide a clearer picture of how Lopetegui wants to assemble his team.
The 11-cap England international, who was reportedly signed by David Moyes, has only played off the field in the first two Premier League games and is now considered expendable, according to a number of media sources, including The Athletic (paywalled) and Hammers News, which also claims that Nottingham Forest has made an offer for his services. That would free up money to sign Soler, which would probably be a wise decision given Lopetegui’s desire to bolster and bolster his midfield.
There would be some division within the fan base if Ward-Prowse was let go. Because of his skill with the dead ball, he is a very dangerous weapon. In his debut season at the London Stadium, he scored seven goals and provided seven assists, marking his fourth straight season in which he has contributed more than 10 goals, following his 27 goals in three years at Southampton. It is undeniable that he is among the top set piece takers in international football. The problem is that the remainder of his game is a little underwhelming.
Given how much more time the ball spends in play than it does waiting to be kicked after a foul or corner, it seems odd that a player who can whip a stationary ball 50 yards onto a ten-pence piece wouldn’t be as effective with a moving one. However, he scores as many goals for himself and others from dead balls as he does from open play (0.48 goals each per 90 minutes last season). Furthermore, he doesn’t have a very great passing game; his 83.4% completion percentage, for example, places him in the middle of the pack among midfielders in the “big five” leagues.
The bigger problem is that he isn’t a top-tier option in a double pivot because he doesn’t provide enough defensive cover. For example, he made just 27.1% of his tackles in the 2021–2022 season, which is a very low percentage for a player in a position that is crucial to defence. Last season, he only made 40.9% of his tackles, which was his greatest percentage in three years. He is not technically proficient or has good positional awareness to be a useful screen for the centre backs. Contrast his success rate with that of new signing Guido versus opposing dribblers.
For example, Rodríguez made more than twice as many tackles per game last season for Real Betis, accounting for 61.8% of the team’s total tackles. He also recorded more interceptions, clearances, blocked passes and shots, and completed more passes. When the set pieces are removed, Ward-Prowse’s effectiveness as a deep-lying midfielder decreases significantly.
All of which explains why Soler might be an improvement, but not why Lopetegui wants to make a change. While Soler is a good player who excelled for Valencia for a number of seasons—he scored double figures in La Liga twice, helped his team win the 2019 Copa del Rey, and was part of Spain’s squad for the 2022 World Cup—he has stagnated after two frustrating seasons at PSG, where the team insisted on using him primarily as a winger. Now that he is no longer a part of Luis Enrique’s plans, he is eager to move on as quickly as possible.
He isn’t a particularly good defensive midfielder, either, despite the past two years showing that he is more of a central midfielder than a wide player. In fact, even though he covered a lot of midfield during his Valencia days, he rarely looked to press and challenge for the ball rather than find space to receive passes. While it would be incorrect to simply switch Soler for Ward-Prowse, doing so would enable West Ham to use Soler as a number 10 while Tomáš Souček played deeper.
The Czech has been playing as the furthest advanced midfield player for West Ham in both of their Premier League games this season. He has been positioned below and between the front three and frequently ahead of the wingers. Against Aston Villa, only Michail Antonio had an average position that saw him further downfield. Making Souček play against type has been a part of it. Despite his physical danger from the air, he lacks the creativity and passing range, as well as the dribbling ability, to be a consistent 10 in the long run.