Nuno Espirito Santo reintroduced James Ward-Prowse to the West Ham United match-day squad on Saturday for the first time since September.
Ward-Prowse joined West Ham from Southampton in the summer of 2023 but despite a fairly impressive first season with the club, he has not lived up to expectations at the London Stadium.
The 31-year-old always puts in a real shift but his lack of mobility and athleticism meant that he became a liability for the Hammers every time he stepped foot on the pitch.
West Ham are far too easy to play through when the former Southampton midfielder plays and since Nuno Espirito Santo took over from Graham Potter, he has been nowhere near the first-team squad.
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It has been claimed that Ward-Prowse fell out with Nuno during their time together at Nottingham Forest.
That would certainly explain the Englishman’s persistent omissions from the Hammers match-day squads.
However, he returned to the fold for West Ham’s Premier League clash with Sunderland on Saturday.
But why the sudden change of heart from Nuno?
West Ham boss Nuno explains James Ward-Prowse U-turn
When the teams were released on Saturday, the Hammers fans were shocked to see Ward-Prowse named as one of the substitutes.
He has been completely jettisoned from the first-team squad over the past four months.
In fact, Ward-Prowse has often trained alone away from the main West Ham group.
He was back involved this weekend, though, as Nuno made the call to include him on the bench.
When speaking during TNT’s broadcast of the game on Saturday January 24th (11:44 am), Nuno responded when asked why he decided to include Ward-Prowse in the match-day squad for the first time since he got the Hammers job.
“There have been some movements in the squad and we have the situation of some absences,“ Nuno suggested.
“James is here and if he’s required he will help us.“
Nuno was then asked whether he would have no problem bringing Ward-Prowse on if required.
“Of course“, the West Ham boss said.
“I’m counting on all of the players since I arrived. I am counting on them, all of them are going to be needed.“
Does James Ward-Prowse have a future at West Ham?
Lucas Paqueta wasn’t included in the squad due to the strong links with a move to Flamengo in the January transfer window.
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Maybe I’m harsh, but I just don’t think he suits this team anymore…
So perhaps that was the only reason why Ward-Prowse was included by Nuno in the West Ham squad for the Sunderland game.
However, if the Hammers make a couple more signings before the transfer window closes, Ward-Prowse may struggle to get back into the match-day squad for the remainder of the season.
The 31-year-old’s time at the London Stadium has been extremely disappointing on the whole.
It seems like a January exit for the midfielder would be the ideal solution for all parties involved.
However, if West Ham fail to make any more signings over the next week or so, Ward-Prowse may be forced to stay at the London Stadium.
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