‘The club know my thoughts’ - Newcastle United linked player denies transfer reports

It was a huge day of Premier League action on Monday, particularly at the bottom end of the table where there were significant results in the battle to avoid relegation.

Newcastle United’s next opponents, Leeds United, dropped into the bottom three despite not playing themselves after Everton shocked Brighton & Hove Albion with a 5-1 routing from out of seemingly nowhere at the AMEX Stadium. The next significant result came at the City Ground in a thrilling contest that saw Nottingham Forest pick up a valuable three points at the expense of Southampton with a 4-3 victory.

That result means the Saints are now rooted to the bottom of the table and just one more result away from being confirmed as the first Premier League side who will be relegated to the EFL Championship at the end of the current campaign. With things going so wrong at St Mary’s, it’s no surprise that their star players are being linked with summer exits but it looks like things might not necessarily be so straightforward when it comes to one midfielder who has been linked with both Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur in recent months.

Saints skipper and England international James Ward-Prowse is expected to depart the club he has been with his whole career this summer, especially if they are relegated. However, the 28-year old spoke to the press after their defeat to Nottingham Forest on Monday night and distanced himself from those rumours.

He said: “There’s nothing in that, the club know my thoughts and my position in terms of what I want to achieve in my career, and nothing has changed within that despite where we are in the league. I want to give my all for this football club, and I always have done. Every time I put the shirt on I always give 100% and that’s no different whether we lose our next game or we win it, it won’t change who I am as a person and that’s giving everything for this club.”

Southampton sit 20th in the Premier League table and are eight points adrift of Everton in 17th with both sides having just three games remaining. That means their only hope of survival is to win all of their remaining matches and also hope for results elsewhere to go their way.