I am really excited about the news of James Ward-Prowse's return.
It has been on and off a little bit, given how it's worked out for him at West Ham, going out on loan a couple of times and trying to find his feet again.
Maybe that hasn't necessarily gone as well as he would have liked either. The possibility of him coming back has almost been mooted a few times.
I know him a bit on a personal level, and what he's like as a character.
I know 100 per cent that you need people like Prowsey at the club. We've seen what he's capable of doing as well. It's an exciting opportunity.
We've had it a little bit before in recent years with the likes of Adam Lallana, Oriol Romeu and Theo Walcott coming back to the club.
I guess the worry is that sometimes it may not work out on the pitch quite as much as you would like it to in these kinds of scenarios.
With Prowsey, I think it's probably a little bit different.
Prowsey through the years 😇 pic.twitter.com/aDIZbXVJSz
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) August 28, 2026
At 31 still, I think he's still go a lot to offer, I genuinely do. Bringing his experience and quality will be a huge thing.
Don't forget the business side of it. What did we sell him for? £30million? What have we paid to get him back? Less than a million?
Yes, he hasn't been at the club for a few seasons now.
But if you're looking at it from a hard-nosed perspective, we've done very well from what we received when he left the club, only to get him back.
I'm really pleased to see him back at the club.
I guess he's got the experience of having left now and having been at other clubs and seeing the other side of that. That's part of how you evolve.
Like all experiences in life, if you can learn from them and be better for it because of them, and moving forward, that can only be a good thing.
With the opportunity to come back, he's very excited.
If he can get anywhere near where he was and what he's given the club in the past, then it'll be a brilliant thing for him and the club.
Of course, I understand why some fans may be sceptical about the signing. There's always that little bit of hurt when a player leaves in the first place.
You always wonder why a player would leave the club you view to be the best in the world, but there are often many reasons why people move on.
With football nowadays, there is the opportunity to better yourself financially as a family, and it's only a short career, so I don't begrudge them.
But it is hurtful and painful when a player that you've really taken to playing at your club and in your colours decides to go for whatever reason.
You've got to look at all the pluses that he brings as well. He's experienced. He's been at the club for so long and knows it inside out.
He'll be a great mentor for younger players on and off the pitch. I'm sure we all say with age, your fitness and things like that change.
But somebody like Prowsey is one of these players that probably could go on for goodness knows how many years.
There are always little elements of a game that change a bit with age, but his numbers last time he was here were right up there.
Once he's on top of his game, fitness-wise, he will be a massive asset for Tonda. I just hope it works out and we see him later today against Millwall.
I am expecting another tough game this afternoon. Everything that we see on paper, really. Their results early on in the season have been excellent.
They will be a difficult opponent, and we need to get back to it. The positivity around this news is something that will certainly help.
Tuesday night was not good enough - nowhere near where we need to be as a team and club. It is important that we change that direction.
Up the Saints,
Franny Benali.
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