West Ham agree James Ward-Prowse loan to Burnley and sign Adama Traoré

Burnley are poised to sign James Ward-Prowse on loan from West Ham. The midfielder is undergoing a medical with a view to spending the rest of the season at Turf Moor.

He is preparing to leave West Ham on a day when the club confirmed the arrival of Adama Traoré from Fulham for a small undisclosed fee. The 30-year-old winger is understood to have signed until June.

Ward-Prowse has been out of favour at West Ham since the appointment of Nuno Espírito Santo as manager last September. The former Southampton player was cut from the first-team squad and has not featured under Nuno.

Ward-Prowse had a similar experience with the Portuguese manager during a loan at Nottingham Forest last season. He quickly dropped out of Nuno’s plans at the City Ground and was sent back to West Ham early.

Nuno left Forest last September and was hired by West Ham that month. His arrival was bad news for Ward-Prowse, who was immediately told that he would not be involved with the first team.

The 31-year-old, a popular presence at the club, has mostly trained away from the main group. It was not viewed as a U-turn by Nuno when he included Ward-Prowse in a matchday squad for the first time for West Ham’s win over Sunderland last Saturday. Sources pointed out that a space on the bench had to be filled after West Ham agreed to let Guido Rodríguez join Valencia on the night before the game. It was too late for an academy player to be added to the main group because the Under-21s had played on Friday night.

Burnley hope the experience of Ward-Prowse, a £30m West Ham signing from Southampton in 2023, can help them in their relegation fight. West Ham have also allowed the midfielders Andy Irving and Rodríguez to depart, leaving them with Tomas Soucek, Matheus Fernandes, Freddie Potts, Soungoutou Magassa and Mohamadou Kanté as options there.

Nuno, who worked with Traoré at Wolves, is rebalancing his squad with a view to keeping the club in the Premier League. Igor Julio’s loan from Brighton has been cut short, allowing West Ham to pursue temporary moves for the Tottenham goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky and the Chelsea defender Axel Disasi.

“Adama is someone who knows the Premier League very well,” Nuno said, “and his qualities – both as a player and a person – will help us between now and the end of the season. He will give us a different option in attacking areas.”