James Ward-Prowse won’t be remembered as having a major impact at Nottingham Forest, a move that he seems to want to forget just as much.
Forest signed Ward-Prowse on deadline day in the summer as the Englishman was seen as the perfect midfield option to cover for the injury to Danilo, then the subsequent absence of Ibrahim Sangare.
There was always the feeling that the West Ham United loanee could be more than just a squad player though due to his Premier League and international pedigree. This feeling looked to be confirmed when Ward-Prowse starred in Forest’s win over Liverpool.
However, Ward-Prowse never made the impact that his Liverpool performance hinted at and West Ham recalled Ward-Prowse in the winter transfer window.
Nuno Espirito Santo said Ward-Prowse’s recall was best for all parties which is something that the free-kick wizard clearly believed as well, given his latest comments on the loan move and his return to West Ham.
James Ward-Prowse was ‘happy’ to end his Nottingham Forest spell
With Sangare and Danilo returning from injury, Forest were stacked in the centre of midfield even without Ward-Prowse so ending his loan made perfect sense. Speaking to the official West Ham website, the 30-year-old made it clear that he was content with ending his time at the City Ground.
Ward-Prowse said: “It’s good to be back! Obviously, it was a strange feeling and situation to leave the club in the first place, but that’s football.
“Even though the last few months for me personally haven’t been the most productive as I would have liked on the pitch, I feel as though the whole experience off it and the sort of different tests that I’ve had to endure have sort of benefited me now.
Although there were some good displays, Pat Nevin criticised Ward-Prowse’s performance against Arsenal which showed that the lack of “productive” time on the pitch for the Englishman is something that he didn’t manage to improve himself.
If anything, though, Ward-Prowse saying that signing for Forest was a “strange” move must have struck a nerve for Espirito Santo, who would’ve felt that the deal was one that naturally came to an end rather than there being any ill will between the two sides.
Ibrahim Sangare can more than replace Ward Prowse in midfield
In theory, Ward-Prowse’s creativity in midfield would be hard to replace with the more defensively solid Sanagare, but his display against Exeter City showed that he is more than capable of offering what the English midfielder did to the Forest squad.
Sangare was excellent against Exeter in a game that the side as a whole struggled in, but the eventual win on penalties means that the Ivorian’s performance can be looked back on fondly.
In fact, Sangare’s passing display was so good that it actually saw him overtake Ward-Prowse in a number of key metrics for a midfielder, with Sangare doubling the former loanee’s assist numbers in just 72 minutes.
Sangare also completed more accurate long balls compared to Ward-Prowse, who only managed to create one more chance in the ten appearances he made at Forest than what Sangare managed on Tuesday night.
By no means was the Ward-Prowse deal a disaster as he covered the space left by the injured Forest players, but his comments upon leaving the club may have soured some of the respect he garnered at the club, something that will only inadvertently benefit Sangare after his triumphant return.
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