Southampton captain James Ward-Prowse insists he has not given much thought to what might come next for him after the Saints’ relegation to the Championship was confirmed on Saturday afternoon.
The England midfielder has been persistently linked with a transfer move to Newcastle United over the past few months – among other clubs – and Southampton’s loss of Premier League status could precipitate a bidding war to secure Ward-Prowse’s services.
With Euro 2024 coming up at the end of next season, the 28 year old will presumably be keen to be in Gareth Southgate’s plans, and the Three Lions boss has previously been reluctant to consider outfielders plying their trade outside top-flight leagues.
Read more: Newcastle transfer rumours as Magpies 'consider' Moussa Diaby's team-mate amid Declan Rice update
Ward-Prowse was understandably focused only on the fate that befell his club on Saturday afternoon, saying: "I'm not thinking too far ahead. We've just been relegated from the Premier League.
“Over the last ten years we have had that kind of consistency and that has wavered. It will be testing for everybody but these are the times that make you as a player and as a club, we have done it before and we will do it again."
Southampton’s two-goal defeat at home to Fulham condemned Southampton to relegation, ending an 11-season stay in the Premier League. They will be joined in the second tier next year by two of Nottingham Forest, Everton, Leeds United and Leicester City
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