Dean Smith is said to be a huge fan of Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse amid claims that Aston Villa are interested in signing him.
The Sun say that the Villa boss is determined to increase his side’s set piece threat, and he views Ward-Prowse as one of the best dead ball takers in the whole of Europe.
That is quite the compliment for the England international, and one which may well be justified.
Ward-Prowse is scarily accurate when provided with chance to take a free-kick or a corner.
The Southampton man is excellent both in shooting and crossing positions, and that makes him a tantalising prospect for Villa.
Massive threat
Jack Grealish is consistently the most fouled player in the league and, given the volume of free-kicks that they get, if they were to have Ward-Prowse standing over them, then they could be a huge threat.
Villa have aerial threats such as Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa to get on the end of their dead-ball situations.
But Villa may well have to up their offer for Ward-Prowse already, if they are to sign him.
The Times reported last night that Southampton are planing to reject any offers from Villa for their long-serving player, who Ralph Hasenhuttl called ‘unbelievable’ this season (BT Sport).
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