James Ward-Prowse relishes 'challenging' Saints captain role

The 26-year-old England international has signed a new five-year deal that will keep him with the south-coast club until 2026, amid transfer rumours linking a Midlands move.

He has put that to bed and can now focus on a long Premier League season ahead with the armband – his second full campaign as skipper.

Ward-Prowse says captaining the side has always been a long-term ambition of his, as he leads the team both vocally and by example, registering eight goals and eight assists in the league last season.

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Asked by the club website about his exploits leading the XI out of the tunnels, he exclaimed: “Yeah, I’ve loved it, that’s something that I wanted since I was eight-years-old!

“I always envisaged myself being captain of this football club. It’s not as easy as I thought, there are a lot more challenges than just wearing the armband on the weekend and being a bit more vocal, there are a lot more challenges to it.

“It’s something that I’m enjoying and always learning about, I want to be the best captain I can for this football club and going forward that’s something I think I can do.”

Supporters can look forward to some more James Ward-Prowse set-piece magic

As well as leading through vital goal contributions and leadership – leadership that could be all-important now following the departure of Ryan Bertrand, Danny Ings and Jannik Vestergaard – Ward-Prowse leads the Premier League in minutes played.

Despite suffering a pre-season knee injury, the centre-mid returned to play a full 90’ against Everton and continue a remarkable run in which he had played every single minute of each of the last two campaigns.

On his personal achievements, he reflected: “Yeah they’re huge to reach, it speaks volumes for me personally when I sit down and think about the sacrifices I’ve made to get there.

“The thought of missing any minute of football terrifies me, I want to be out there helping the team, so long may that continue.

The midfielder scored eight times in the Premier League last season

“Massively so (on fans being important), we had a taste of it at the weekend against Everton and it was kind of a goosebumps moment to ear the fans singing your name, the opposition giving you a bit of stick here and there too.

“It’s going to be special for sure (Sunday vs Manchester United), they play a huge part in getting behind the team and we’ll make sure we’re energetic and ready from the start.”