The midfielder has scored two and assisted five times in just five games for West Ham, and assisted in Southampton's first game of the season before moving to London.
There was a lot of speculation around the signing with the former England midfielder coming in after the departure of club captain Declan Rice. But Ward-Prowse couldn’t have had a better start if he tried, his first assist came from a corner in the 7th minute in his home debut against Chelsea to help the Hammers push on for their first win of the season.
He has made over 330 appearances in the Premier League, scoring 51 goals with the majority of them coming from a set piece which he hasn’t done yet for the Hammers, with his goals coming from open play scenarios. He is only one free-kick goal behind David Beckham and may well break his record this season.
The midfielder also has 41 assists in the league.
Ward-Prowse has plenty of other qualities as well as his World-class set pieces, his leadership skills being one of them. West Ham in their last 2 years have lost both their captains, long-term captain Mark Noble and Noble's replacement Declan Rice. So the Hammers wanted to bring some more leadership into the squad which Ward-Prowse has a lot of experience in, as he was captain of Southampton for many seasons.
He also has a lot of defensive attributes as he will happily be the midfielder that sits back and makes crucial tackles to protect his defence but will also create chances for the attackers, which he has done incredibly well so far.
Ward Prowse has played in Europe before with Southampton back in 2015/16 where he featured in all six of their Europa League group games but they unfortunately didn’t get enough points to qualify for the knockouts. He will be hoping to help West Ham do so which could push them towards back-to-back European trophies.
Ward-Prowse was at it again in his first European appearance for the Hammers, setting up two goals in the 3 - 1 win over Backa Topola.
The Hammers sit 6th in the Premier League with their next fixture taking them to Anfield to face Liverpool on Sunday. James Ward-Prowse will be looking to add to his attacking stats there.
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