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It Is Career Or Cash Decision For Both Danny Ings And Southampton As Man City Hover
Tuesday, 23rd Mar 2021 10:20

With the big media hitters claiming that Manchester City will look to replace Sergio Aquero with Danny Ings, both Southampton Football Club and Danny Ings have a big decision to make in the summer.

The fact that Danny Ings has not signed a new deal is both good and bad news for Saints, it is good because it means they can still get top dollar for the player should they choose to cash in this summer and they therefore have some control over the situation, it is bad because we would far rather have the player than not.

The stalling point over the contract seems to be about a clause where the player can leave if a set fee is met, the figure of £10 million has been bandied about and to be blunt if we agreed to that amount we would be mad, Spurs would be on the phone before the ink was dry on the paper.

The issue though is Ing's age he will be 29 in the summer and this is his last big decision, but more of that later.

Back to the get out clause, £10 million is too low, as it stands Saints would be looking for 3 times that for a player with his scoring record, perhaps even more, but the issue here is age.

If Saints cannot get Ings agent to agree a get out clause of around £30 million then we are better letting him run into the last year of his contract than sell him for £10 million.

Ing's goals for even a last season and then seeing him leave for free will be a better scenario than selling him for a derisory £10 million, so from this perspective we are in control of the situation, although as we know from the Virgil Van Dijk situation 4 years ago, contracts mean nothing is a player is willing to force the issue, back then the club did everything to keep the player and not sell him, but Van Dijk was willing to go to extremes to get to Anfield, although not as far as putting in a transfer request and therefore foregoing a cut in the deal.

In Ings case there is a clause where Liverpool will be entitled to a proportion of the fee if Ings is sold, so that is another consideration for Saints.

So the decision for Saints will be one purely of money, it has to be more than worthwhile to sell him and at £2 million per League placing it is not hard to make up any money lost be potentially letting him go for free at a derisory price.

But for Danny Ings it will be a far more difficult decision, based purely on his career, it would be a no brainer if a truly big club came in for him, this will be his last big move, injury ruined his shot at glory at Anfield, now he may get a second chance, but to be blunt it has to be at a club that can truly compete.

That rules out Spurs, the last month or so has shown they are in just as much turmoil as ever, a couple of years ago they seemed on the verge of a breakthrough when they got into the Champions League final, but with their chances of a Champions League place let alone another final looking dodgy and Mourinho doing his usual stay two years and off act looking likely at the end of the season, going to Spurs would not be a good career option.

The same could be said for Arsenal and even Liverpool and with Manchester United's worries being about conceding goals not scoring them, that leaves just two destinations that would tempt Danny.

The first Chelsea are reviving under Tuchel and could be a good option if they chose to make a move and they have the money to wave at Saints and not act all Tottenham Hotspur and haggle, but they will be looking longer term for a striker and at 29 Ing's won't be considered that.

So that leaves just one left in the running and that is today's lined club Manchester City, they have money to burn, their rise in the last couple of years has been obscene, their second XI cost twice as much as most other clubs best 11 players, they have created two squads so they can challenge on all fronts and this they are doing this season with a quadruple still on the cards.

So for City spending £30 million on Danny Ings is small change, but what would his role be at the Etihad ?

The question for Danny would be not about money, that would be taken care of, not about winning things, that would also be a given, but the real question is how much game time would he actually get ?

At Saints it would be every game as long as he is fit, if he stays fit and keeps scoring he will more than likely make the England squad for next years World Cup, but at City he will not play so much.

He is touted as the replacement for Sergio Aquero, but Aqueros role in the Premier League has gone over the last two years, last season he started just 18 games, this season just 4 with the same number off the bench, yes injury and illness has played a part in that, but even when fit in the 15 games he was in the Premier League squad he was on the bench 11 times of those with just those 4 starts.

A similar story in the Champions League, on the bench for 4 of the 5 games he was fit for and the same story in the other cup competitions.

So Danny Ings will not go to Manchester City as Roy Of The Rovers, the player who will fire them to glory, they don't need him for that, he will go for the best seat in the house on the City bench where he will watch them win a lot of games, but will not get much game time.

He will get medals, he will get glory and he will get money, he will get to celebrate the trophies, but he will have that feeling that he didn't play much part in it overall, there will be some vital goals, but most will be about finishing off a lowly Premier League club or in the early rounds of the Cup competitions.

Forget the World Cup next summer !

So it is going to be a tough decision for Danny Ings, no one can blame him for wanting a last stab at glory, if he does leave he should do so with our praise ringing in his ears, our thanks for some glorious moments heartfelt, it will not be a lack of ambition from Saints as a club, it will be the reality of modern football, certain clubs can afford to do and get what they want and Manchester City are one of them.

But it is not a foregone conclusion, Danny will look at what the other clubs can offer and balance it up, he needs to be at a club where he will play regularly otherwise he will end his career going to the same number of World Cups as me, he needs to go to a club where he can win trophies otherwise there is no point.

Could Saints themselves offer that, if we were to get to the FA Cup Final that would make him think, if we were to win it then he would not only have a winners medal, but we would be in Europe next season and that would also be attractive to him.

The one thing that no one knows is how much genuine interest is actually out there and if anyone has got any money, football clubs usually unless they are Spurs don't go around telling you who they are chasing, they keep it quite and get the deal done, are City really interested or is it Danny Ing's agent upping the ante, or is it Harry Kane's agent trying to push his man into the fore or even someone close to Spurs trying to stir things up.

Money is a big factor and most clubs haven't got much as they are losing money hand over foot at the moment, Spurs took out a £175 million government bounce back loan last summer, Manchester United had to borrow £60 million themselves and most clubs are in the same boat.

Forget sugar daddies, no one these days buys a football club to spend millions bailing it out, they don't put in their own money to throw it down the drain, they secure it against the club.

They have to sell before they can buy, but they can't sell as no one has any money to buy it is a vicious circle.

So what might keep Danny Ings at Saints is not the usual things but Covid 19.

Personally I am not worried if Danny Ings leaves Saints, I would rather him stay, but everyone has to leave sometimes, the trick for clubs like Saints is letting them go at the right time for the right money and then reinvesting that money and repeating the process time and time again.

If that doesn't sound the sort of football club you want to support, then Saints isn't your team, throughout our history this is the way we operate and the way we have managed to compete with the big clubs, money is no guarantee of success !


Photo: Action Images



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SaintPaulVW added 11:20 - Mar 23
Clubs seem to have an unwritten rule not to compete for players. I suspect he will go and we will get about £25 million for him to the first club that enters the ring. That's useful money and cashes us out about even once you knock off Liverpool's 20% sell on fee.

If Spurs are the only ones interested then we won't even get that. So in that situation I would agree hold onto him and if he does go on a hot streak before Xmas cash in then.

I'm talking like it's all a done deal and he won't sign a new deal. I just don't see any evidence that he wants to. He would surely announce he was keen to sign for Saints again. I can't blame him but we all need to plan for the future.
4

Saint4Life247 added 11:20 - Mar 23
I think the important thing for the club is not to get to bogged down in a tug of war with Ings (or any player for that matter). Ings knows if he stays he won't get paid the 'mega bucks' compared with those that play for the bigger teams. This will ultimately be the driving force behind any decision. At Saints he will be played, he will be adored, he will score and should he find consistency then he'd still be in the mix for an England game or two.
Offer him a decent deal, let him make his mind up. If he isn't keen and wants to move on then let him and get as much as you can for him. City will naturally over pay for players so it makes sense to consider a bid from them.
The second important thing is to reinvest all monies back into the team with a strong replacement. Failure to do that could prove costly in the continuation of our Premier League status.
2

JohnT added 12:27 - Mar 23
Players have to want to play for us if they don't then let them go for as much as possible. I am sick of all this basically nobodies who we turn into somebodies who then think they are too good for us...not that many go on the do really well
1

SanMarco added 13:06 - Mar 23
The usual health warning over this rumour but if there is something in it then as Nick says the more interesting decision is not the one for Saints but the one for Ings. For Saints it is simply a good price or run down the contract. Agreeing anything less than 30m release clause would be madness.

For Ings though it seems an obvious choice - get paid three times as much and get winners medals. He won't play in two 0-9s at City and he will get to watch European Cup finals for free, and get a medal at the end of it. The downside though is he will hardly play - even if he stays fit. Guardiola will not see Ings as anything more than an occasional player. So does Ings want to play football or not?

My own opinion, for what it is worth, is that he does want to go but will hope for a 'big' team likely to give him a regular game. Sadly, post-Kane Spuds looks the best best, with Bumnal a close second...
1

I_would added 16:48 - Mar 23
Well for a start Ingsy isn't going to Man City. He's not good enough unless playing at his absolute top form, he's unreliable with months off every season due to injuries and he' s too old.

What concerns me is that you, Nick, seem to have an underlying discontent with the way things are going at Saints, but seem to vent your frustration at already well peed off supporters. What you should be doing, and should have done as spokesman for a forum, is have a right pop at the blase owners, incompetent impotent management and the present stubborn, hard headed first team manager and let them all know that they need to up their game.
-2

underweststand added 16:51 - Mar 23
The big story is ...Is this " a story," or, is it the real deal?.
This appears a dozen times (on diff. sites) some of whom just " Xerox" the storyline.

IF TRUE.. no-one can deny that without Danny, we would have been in the Championship this season - and for that alone we should be grateful. His career has been a series of starts - followed by long stops - for injury. He deserves to get a shot at the very top level for the remainder of his career. Clearly he is not in Aguero's class - in terms of stats. / goals scored, but he does have the Aguero guile and a skilful finish to match.
I'd be very sorry to see him go, but Pep knows a good thing when he sees it, and for the relatively small fee involved (compared to their usual buys) it'd be good biz. for City to have Danny around - even if he doesn't play 90 mins. every week. He'd DAJF them OK.

Sooner or later, Danny will leave Saints, and for us to get £omething back now is the most sensible move, otherwise he walks away for no£hing NEXT summer. Unlike City , Saints need a big transfer pot for next season, and sadly Danny is prime candidate to go.

IF THE STORY IS *ULL*HIT?... then we are all wasting our time writing about it.
0

KriSaint added 17:21 - Mar 23
This is not so easy for me to discuss. I love Danny Ings and he seems a great guy in the dressing room AND off the pitch. I can only pray that we will go on to win the FA cup as underdogs and that with such a trophy in the cabinet and a ticket to Europe he will want to be part of the future at Saints.
I think he will get more England caps playing for Saints than playing for a top 4 team, where he will not play more than half the games per season he plays for us.
2

Monksway added 16:46 - Mar 24
I think we need to plan for Ings leaving in the summer. Given his injury record, a likely season is 20 games max which he would get as a squad member at one of the rich six. Ultimately it will come down to a massive hike in his wages. Start planning now so we don't have another VIDEO fiasco.
0

Monksway added 16:47 - Mar 24
VVD fiasco not VIDEO fiasco.....
0


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