Was up for keeping him and letting him run down the contract, but if we get Armstrong, might as well just take as much money as we can for Ings. We need our whole team to be as hungry and motivated as possible, and I'm not sure Ingsy will be. If we get 25m each for Vestie and Ings, we can buy 3 or 4 more very good players, on top of Armstrong and Perraud.
Real shame but I have already accepted this would happen. It would have been nice to get him on a new contract with a low release clause of about £10m/£15m that activates next summer. That way we get another season out of him plus a good chunk to reinvest.
While I think that we would struggle without Ings if his heart is elsewhere then is it worth keeping him? If he is happy to leave in a year then great.
Disappointing, but life goes on. Cash in now - otherwise he`ll be looking after himself next season to avoid injury as far as possible.
Ings averages 14 goals a season in the three seasons he's been with us. I'd like to think that for 25m we could get a younger, fitter striker who can average close to that.
There really isn't any point in us selling him for under 25mill and it certainly isn't a guarantee someone will meet that.
It's a big risk for Danny this. I mean, nobody has come in for him, and if nobody continues to come in for him, he's turning down the chance of a four year contract at, what, 90k a week let's say. That's a long contract for an injury prone player. If nobody does come in for him, and we keep him another year, and he pings his cruciate again. Well, nobody is going to come in for him on a free either, and if they do it may well be at a lot less than 90k a week, and a lot shorter than 4 years. If he was sensible, he'd take the new contract, with provisos that if there's a bid of over x, then he is informed and the bid is accepted.
As much as I want Ings to stay if we can get a decent fee and good enough replacement I'd be happy to let him go.
I suspect the club/Danny's agent have leaked that news to see if anyone does come in with a bid. If not, I wonder how long the offer is on the table.
Agreed. Not a coincidence this has come out just after the transfer window opens. It will be interesting to see what happens if no one comes in for him.
I think it’s naive to think his agent hasn’t been talking to clubs for awhile to get an idea of interest/what wages he could get elsewhere. Whilst nothing might be on the table right now, I’m sure they will have sounded out other clubs about potentially putting bids in I agree on the risk of he runs his contract down. There is a good chance he gets injured at some point next season given his record.
I tend to agree. But there's nothing concrete as yet (that we know of, admittedly). I think if there is something decent on the table, we should probably take it (and perhaps this news has been leaked by the club to soften us up a bit to that happening shortly).
Didn't The Athletic's article say our offer is still on the table if he changes his mind? To me that suggests this news was leaked from Ings' side in the hope that it encourages clubs to come forward. Some probably will, as they'll think they can get him for a cut-price fee. I can only see us selling if someone matches our valuation (which is probably about £30m). A lot could happen with this one. He may even have a change of heart if no one comes in for him as if he got a bad injury towards the end of the season, he'd be clubless. Be interesting to see what happens if no one comes in for him once the window's shut.
As far as I’m concerned he can go, we can make some money and reinvest. He is a good striker and an important part of the team although held back by injury, but this is now hampering the development of the squad. If his preference is to spend the rest of his life sitting on the bench and collecting a payslip then that’s his choice. I think if his heart isn’t in playing for Southampton he shouldn’t be here.
The question for the club is will the best fee we can get - which will likely be lower than our valuation - be worth it, or will Ings’ performances outweigh any fee we’d get?
