Aston Villa journalist Luke Hatfield has told Football FanCast that he expects Southampton to be planning for life with James Ward-Prowse.
Ward-Prowse has been the subject of heavy interest from Villa this summer, with Sky Sports claiming last month that the Midlands club had a £25m bid turned down for the Southampton captain.
Villa have already raided Southampton in this transfer window, snapping up striker Danny Ings to bolster their forward line.
However, while not completely ruling it out, Hatfield would not be shocked to see the Saints prevent an Ings and Ward-Prowse reunion from taking place at Villa Park.
“All of the noises coming out of Southampton and those close to the club seem to suggest that he’s not for sale,” the Express & Star reporter said.
“If Villa put enough money on the table to get them talking, then anything can happen. But for now, I think Southampton are planning for life with James Ward-Prowse in their squad.”
You would have to imagine that Southampton would be even more reluctant to sell Ward-Prowse to Villa after handing them over Ings.
The Villans are the kind of club Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side will surely be trying to hunt down and overtake this season, so strengthening them further would be a very counterproductive move to say the least.








