UK
West Ham United have been asked about the transfer availability of striker Danny Ings by his former club Southampton, according to the Daily Mail.
The Mail reported [18 June] that Southampton manager Russell Martin wants to add Ings’ Premier League experience and goalscoring nous to a young Saints squad, and is prepared to offer up to £6million to sign him.
Ings scored 46 Premier League goals in 100 Saints appearances between 2019 and 2021 before moving to the London Stadium, but managed just one across 30 games in all competitions last season.
That included a mere seven starts for the 31-year-old in David Moyes’ final season with the Hammers, and a return to Southampton would bring a forgettable spell in East London to a close.
West Ham United have to sanction Danny Ings transfer this summer
If Southampton do table a £6m bid for Ings this summer, the Hammers should accept their offer with open arms given it’s an amount which far outweighs the impact he’s made at the London Stadium.
Just three goals in 37 Premier League appearances is a far cry from the form he showed at Southampton previously, and with Julen Lopetegui on the hunt for fresh striking options, a parting of the ways seems the most sensible option for both parties in the coming weeks.
The Irons paid Aston Villa a £15m fee for Ings in January 2023, but as he’s now on the wrong side of 30 and with his goalscoring output diminishing, recouping just under half that amount represents a solid piece of business.
A return to Southampton, where he finished joint-second in 2019/20’s Premier League Golden Boot race, would not only give Ings the chance at a late-career revival, but also free up funds to pursue Lopetegui’s top targets in a new-look Hammers attack [O Jogo].
