The news over the last few days was that Saints were willing to let James Ward Prowse leave for £50 million and the news is that he has put pen to paper.... on a new 5 year contract with Southampton FC.
There were many over the past few weeks who were criticising the club and it's owner Jisheng Gao branding them willing to take any offer on the table for Saints best players, Gao especially has received a lot of stick for not investing multi millions in transfer fees.
A lack of ambition was levelled as both him and the club in whom he owns 80% and a proportion of the fan base seemed to be just waiting for the news that after the sale of Danny Ings it would only be a matter of time before Ward Prowse joined him at Aston Villa and then the doom & gloom merchants could truly let rip.
But Gao didn't syphon off the Ings money and now it seems that he wasn't interested in recouping a large chunk of his £200 million investment by selling James Ward Prowse, in fact quite the opposite, he has sanctioned a new 5 year deal for the club Captain which will likely make him the highest paid player at the club.
It hasn't always been a smooth ride for JWP since making his Premier League debut back in August 2012, but he has never given up and learned his trade and after the arrival of Ralph Hasenhuttl, suddenly started to show the form that his talent had been promised but had never quite reached under the some previous managers.
Ward Prowse had this to say on the club's official website to announce the news.
"I’m over the moon. I think I’m probably the happiest man in the world right now. To come to this decision, I think has been massive and is a big step forward.
"To commit my future again to this football club is something I’m incredibly proud of and a new chapter begins now for me.
"It’s probably the first time in my career that I’ve had that link away and that talk, but I think I was very keen to sit down and talk to the club and it’s worked both ways; they’ve sat down and told me their admiration for me and the way they want me to lead the team — and this club has done so much for me, I can’t put into the words the opportunities and chances that they’ve given me and I’m incredibly grateful for the club for doing that.
"I’m not finished yet here, I still have a lot left to give to this football club and I want to be there leading this team and ensuring I can give everything back and repay that faith the club have shown in me since I was eight-years-old.”
In these days of mercenary players who put chase money and not success it is great to see a little faith restored.
Perhaps this now can be the catalyst for Saints fans to get behind the club going forward, to realise that we have had some tough times in what has also been a tough time in the World, but it has shown some ambition and after getting certain players off the books this summer who had barely played for the club over the past couple of years, we can now start to move forward again.
We are not out of the woods yet, but surely we can show some faith in our club now and those who have suggested that we are finished can now see some light at the end of the tunnel.
Danny Ings leaving hurt, in truth not because he had left, but because he had not left for that higher level of bigger challenge, but because he had left for a club who although bigger in stature than Saints were still nearer our level than that of the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea & United, today James Ward Prowse showed that some players care more about loyalty and prize that and integrity above financial gain.
Ralph Hasenhuttl said recently player do not want to be club legends anymore, well here is one that is and does.