Ralph hits the nail on the head here: We got lucky with being able to sign Ings for 20mill. It's not worth us selling Danny for a cut price fee this summer, even if he doesn't sign a new contract.
Given Ings's injury record, I can see him extending with us so he has that security, just in case he was to get another injury. Other players in his situation could choose not to sign so they can get enhanced wages/signing bonus by leaving for free, but that would be a big risk for Ings if he got another bad injury. Could find himself injured without a club in the worst case scenario.
Maybe the delay is he signs a contract with a release clause after the summer transfer window so clubs can't just meet the clause straight away.
surely you just write it so that is can’t be activated until after a certain date. Or have a much higher one for this summer. Seems standard with the German clubs
Ilkay Gundogan, a great season for the Champions, scored 12 in 26 games Danny Ings, A slightly disappointing season for Saints as they escape relegation, scored 12 in 26 games Just saying
Spoke to my mate who knows him a couple of weeks ago and he said that he isn’t overly fussed by playing time, just wants to make sure his (likely) last contract is a good one. So I guess he thinks he can earn more elsewhere
Really disappointing if true. Especially as no-one has come in for him yet (that we know of). I don't begrudge him the move though. Careers are short and he wants to play at a higher level that we can't offer him. We've had an amazing couple of seasons out of him. If his value is only a reported £20-£25 million then i would keep him another year and run down his contract. It then gives us time to bed in Che and a new striker (Armstrong??). Going into a season with Che as our only half decent/ experienced striker could be a disastser. We can't expect an Armstrong (or similar) to hit the ground running in the premier League. I can't see this being the strategy though. With our measly budget/ finances then we will probably bite the proverbial hand off for that money and then re-invest in one 'lucky dip' player. Fingers crossed it works out.