Southampton captain James Ward-Prowse has dismissed talk of leaving St Mary's as they prepare for their final game in the Premier League against Liverpool this weekend.
The 11-time England international faces an uncertain future with his boyhood club as their time in the English top-flight came to an end in their first relegation since 2004-05. Jurgen Klopp's side have already scouted the free-kick specialist this season, according to Football Insider, and Goal reported in 2021 that the 28-year-old was looked at.
Ruben Selles will take charge of his final game in charge of the Saints when Liverpool visit the south coast on Sunday as the caretaker manager's ill-fated spell comes to an end.
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With scrutiny surrounding the future of the Southampton skipper, he dismissed the opportunity to talk about the next steps deeming it "unprofessional".
"It would be unprofessional to be thinking too far ahead. I’ve just heard the news about Ruben [Selles] which is a decision by the club. We’re focusing on giving him the respect of our full working capacity to be ready for the weekend," he said in an interview with BBC Radio Solent Sport.
"When you go through something like this with the relegation it’s a time for reflection for everybody whether you’re a player or a staff member. It’s all about questioning what you have done this year to make sure you’ve done enough to reach the target or the goal and ultimately we’ve not done that well enough across the board.
"Then you think about the future and what that looks like and I think it’s in the back of everybody’s mind moving forward, not just players but staff as well, it’s a big change at the club."
He expressed his sadness at their drop into the English second tier: "I’ve been here a long, long time and when you walk around the training ground and look back at the memories you have as an eight-year-old it’s sad to see the way it is now.
“But that is football and that is life, whatever happens, I am sure this club has everything it needs to be back in the Premier League. Not just because of the speculation but because of the manner in which we’ve been relegated, I don’t think we have grasped the idea of that battle and that has been disappointing."
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