James Ward-Prowse signs new five-year Southampton deal

Southampton captain James Ward-Prowse has signed a new five-year contract, the Premier League side have announced.

“I think everybody knows it’s a club that’s very close to my heart,” Ward-Prowse told the official Southampton website.

“I started out here as an eight-year-old and just had that goal of wanting to reach the first-team, and my appreciation for the club is so big, because the people within it and the infrastructure has allowed me to follow my dream as a young boy who wanted to play professional football.

“They’ve given me every opportunity and every helping hand along the way to reach that target and for me again it’s another opportunity to repay that faith to everybody who’s played a part in my journey up until now.

“Not just within the team, but the club, I really feel that it’s an exciting period for us. I think we’ve regained our identity as a team and I think we’re heading in the right direction towards where we believe we can go as a club.

“We’ve certainly got the infrastructure and the people around here to make that happen, and it’s up to us now to go and work hard in these next few weeks and ensure that we start the season the way that we finished the last one.”