Southampton have often been known as a selling club given their great recruitment and academy system, but they will be desperate to keep hold of their captain James Ward-Prowse.

However, former Newcastle United defender Steve Howey believes it will take at least £60 million for the Saints to consider selling him.

It has been a hectic 2020 for Southampton as they have seen their star players all linked with a move away from the south coast with Ward-Prowse, Danny Ings and Jannik Vestergaard all tipped to leave this summer.

Ward-Prowse was not a guarantee to start under former manager Mauricio Pellegrino but since Ralph Hasenhuttl arrived, he has instilled confidence in the midfielder handing him the captain's armband and he has not missed a single minute of Premier League football for two seasons.

When you look at reports suggesting that Aston Villa would demand £45 million for John McGinn who has only had one season in the Premier League, Howey delivered a stern verdict when asked if £30-35 million would be a fair price for Southampton to accept for Ward-Prowse, telling Football FanCast exclusively:

"I think they'd want a lot more than that. I think you'd be looking at double that for him."

It was the £35,000-per-week midfielder's best season for the Saints as he found the net eight times and registered seven assists, with the majority of them coming from dead-ball situations as he is undoubtedly on penalties, free kicks and corners.

If the Saints don't look to make obvious improvements to their side this summer, players such as Ings and Ward-Prowse may feel like they have to move on for the good of their careers to try and win trophies.