James Ward-Prowse returned to West Ham United from Nottingham Forest on transfer deadline day.
The deal was struck after West Ham and Nottingham Forest mutually agreed to terminate his loan deal at the City Ground.
The Hammers needed more competition and cover in the central midfield department, and the opportunity to bring James Ward-Prowse back to the London Stadium was one that Graham Potter couldn’t resist.
Since the 30-year-old’s return to east London, he has played in all three of the games he was eligible for, with 225 minutes of action to his name.
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Ward-Prowse has added some much-needed energy to our engine room, and his pressing from the front has been a joy to watch.
The former Southampton man seems to have a new lease of life under Potter, and the Hammers head coach is clearly a hgue fan of the midfielder.
However, not everyone was happy with his return. It’s the nature of football fans to never be entirely happy isn’t it!
Now, the Hammers fans are all making the same point about the hard-working central midfielder…
West Ham fans all saying same thing about James Ward-Prowse
Julen Lopetegui made some awful decisions during his Hammers tenure.
However, allowing Ward-Prowse to leave on loan was right up there with the worst of the lot.
It’s little wonder why the Spaniard was sacked in the end – he really was clueless, not only tactically but with his talent ID as well.
Now the West Ham fans have reacted on social media about Ward-Prowse’s return to the London Stadium.
One fan took to social media platform X and ripped into Lopetegui for the decision to let him go, “I’ll never forgive Lopetegui for the way he treated JWP.“
A second fan raved about Ward-Prowse’s impact, “Has been outstanding in central midfield since returning was never comfortable being put on the wing.“
Meanwhile, a third supporter highlighted how glad he is to have the 30-year-old back at the club, “glad this guy’s back with us – I missed having JWP around first half this season.“
A fourth fan thinks Ward-Prowse will get better and better as time goes on, “So glad he’s back. Give him a couple of more weeks and his assists ratio will go up. Over the last couple of weeks I could see the balls from free kicks and corners getting more accurate.“
Whilst a fifth described him simply as a passing master, “Prowsey is a passing master though for sure.“
And a sixth said he was a “joy to watch” against Leicester:
I think it’s clear to see now that Lopetegui made a horrific decision when letting him join Forest on loan.
The fact that the Spaniard brought in the hapless Guido Rodriguez to replace the Englishman made the whole situation even worse.
What West Ham owners privately think about James Ward-Prowse
It was Lopetegui’s decision to let Ward-Prowse leave.
But what do the Hammers owners think about it all?
Well, it has been claimed that there is an acceptance internally amongst the West Ham hierarchy that it was a mistake letting the 30-year-old leave to join Nottingham Forest.
That’s fair enough, but it’s a shame they didn’t block the transfer six months ago.
And it really frustrates me that they didn’t do the same with the Guido Rodriguez deal.
Had West Ham kept James Ward-Prowse, and appointed Graham Potter rather than Julen Lopetegui in the summer, I’m convinced we would be inside the top 10 in the Premier League table now.
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