Danny Ings

[CarryOnVilla]

6 minutes ago, Follyfoot said:

There is an article on Danny Ings just come out on the Telegraph online. Does anyone have access to the full story

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2021/08/13/danny-ings-exclusive-aston-villa-huge-club-no-reason-shouldnt/

 

Quote

It was 8pm on the Wednesday of last week when Danny Ings finally put a suitcase of clothes in his car and left Hampshire with the satnav set for Aston Villa’s Bodymoor Heath training ground, and he has not yet been back to the place that used to be home

The whirlwind transfer of the England international from Southampton to Villa was so swift that when Ings left home that evening he was still – as far as the official registration was concerned – a Saints player. Villa and Saints had agreed a fee for him - £25 million with a further £5 million in potential extras - and he had agreed in principle to join, finally signing his deal at 11.15pm on that Wednesday night. There was a late-night tour of the training ground before he checked into the Belfry Hotel next door ready to meet his new team-mates the next day.

He loved every moment of it – just as his previous deal from Liverpool to Southampton in 2018 was concluded with the submission of a provisional deal sheet to beat the transfer deadline and then a last-minute flight south. “I have had some crazy transfer windows,” he reflects on a Zoom call from Bodymoor Heath. His Premier League debut for Villa is coming on Saturday against Watford. It has happened quickly but the reality is that he has been preparing for this moment ever since Southampton’s final game of last season on May 23.

Two days after that he was omitted from Gareth Southgate’s squad for Euro 2020, he headed off for one week’s holiday with his girlfriend and then went straight into pre-season. There was a week with his friend and personal trainer, Alex Parsons in Portugal where so many of the Premier League’s Euro non-participants were training or rehabbing that we joke it might as well have been an evening at the PFA awards. Then on to Majorca for another two weeks training before heading back to official pre-season with Southampton on July 5. He is nothing if not prepared, as the Villa club motto has it.

The first serious discussions over a transfer came on the first day of this month, a Sunday. “Talks started between my agent [David Threlfall] and Villa and I don’t know what the clubs were doing - talking to each other,” Ings says. “That’s when I was told about it. The next couple of days was a waiting game really.” The next day, Monday, it was agreed that Ings would not train as the clubs discussed the fee. On Tuesday he had a Zoom meeting with Villa manager Dean Smith; the sporting director Johan Lange and Christian Purslow, the chief executive. That evening he did a medical in London while talks progressed on personal terms.

“We had a really good chat and they showed me the direction they want the club to go in. It was really exciting. I looked at it and I thought it was an unbelievable project. I looked at the squad and the players they have brought in. It was something I wanted to be part of.

“As you know I have been at many different clubs in my career and I like these different challenges and different environments; a certain style of play. It has always been a different test for me: the way the manager wants me to play and all those details. That is something I have always enjoyed. I just thought it was a challenge I didn’t wanted to say ‘No’ to. I’m delighted it's happened.”

He had never intended to sign a new deal at Southampton, a decision that meant the club had to sell him this summer before he reached free agency next summer. Originally it was Ings’ intention to join a Champions League club and with the window open until Sept 2 that was always a possibility. There was also serious interest from Tottenham Hotspur. But Villa’s intervention was decisive and his arrival, along with that of Leon Bailey, and Emi Buendia, is the club’s play to push on for the top seven and reinvest the proceeds of Jack Grealish’s £100 million sale.

“This is a huge club, with a reputation and probably even bigger expectation from the fans,” Ings says. “With the owners, the gaffer and the squad here there is no reason we shouldn’t be fighting for Europe. That is definitely realistic. It is going to take a lot of hard work, determination and consistency throughout the season. But it is definitely achievable. That is a big part of why I came here.”

It is why, when he arrived at Southampton, he only signed on loan for the first season with an additional three-year deal guaranteed. It gave him that flexibility for the last big move of his career. “Before going to Saints the plan was always just to have one contract there,” Ings says. “I know it’s where I grew up, my hometown, where my family and my friends are, but that doesn’t change me and who I am and what I like to do in my career. It was difficult leaving Southampton because I had some great friends and I was close to my family. It was extremely tough not being able to go in and say goodbye but that was the agreement between the two clubs. So that part was difficult.

“But people who know me and know what I am about understand I like different environments, different challenges. It [Villa] was a challenge that I really wanted to take on.”

Earlier there had been an offer from Saints to make Ings the best paid player in their history, although he always believed that he had one more move in him. He briefly tasted Champions League football at Liverpool and while two injuries limited his involvement at Anfield the ambition has always been to return to a level like that. Ultimately his sale this month has funded Saints’ acquisition of his replacement, the Blackburn Rovers striker Adam Armstrong. In the circumstances, the deal has benefited both parties.  

“It was amazing at Southampton – I had a really good run and goal record and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. I know the fans will be upset that I left but hopefully they can look back on those numbers [of goals] and see that I gave everything. I loved playing for the club and I loved the fans and every part of it. But these things happen in football. I wanted to keep challenging myself in a different way. That is my foundation and that is why I only signed one contract at Southampton.”

He leaves Saints with a goalscoring record that delivered 46 in 100 games in all competitions, including 25 in 42 games in the 2019-2020 campaign. If Euro 2020 had been staged on schedule last year there is little doubt that Ings, second only to Jamie Vardy that season for Premier League goals, would have been in Southgate’s squad. He won his second and third caps against Iceland and Wales in the autumn of last year, and scored his first international goal, but found himself just edged out of the Euro squad come June.

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“England will always be in my sights as long as I am playing,” he says. “Whenever an opportunity like that comes up I will always do my best to take it and be there if called upon. Of course, I was gutted not to be in the squad for the tournament. We have so many good attacking players and so many options. I completely understood the decision. It is what it is, football can be like that at times.”

He is adaptable in his position but ultimately Ings is a goalscorer, best deployed in central positions as an orthodox No 9. From training so far under Smith that looks to be the position he will play at his new club. After this weekend he will head down south for the first time since his late drive up on Aug 4 to collect some more clothes and check in with his two Goldendoodle dogs – currently staying with friends of his. He also has to find a new home in the West Midlands as quickly as possible. All of that takes second place to the debut on Saturday at Vicarage Road and the expectation again of the big signing brought in to score goals. It comes with the territory.

“If you do reach those kind of numbers [of goals] automatically the pressure and the expectation is huge,” Ings says. “I really enjoy that expectation because I know that if I am not reaching those numbers I am not doing my job. So for me it is so important to keep on top of the fine details and be extremely dialled in, week to week, to make sure I reach those numbers. With the players here I do think there will be a lot of chances to score goals.  Then it’s up to me to hit the back of the net.”

 

[Xela]

Great article. Shows that us fans, and a lot of the media, have very little idea on what is going on behind the scenes. 

[VillaJay]

I'd read that a couple of clubs had been haggling all summer in the 12-15m range and we came in with 25m and just got the deal done.

Our most important signing argubaly as he's PL proven and is good enough to play for a top 6 side already.

Outside bet for top pl scorer this season.

[MaVilla]

3 minutes ago, VillaJay said:

I'd read that a couple of clubs had been haggling all summer in the 12-15m range and we came in with 25m and just got the deal done.

Our most important signing argubaly as he's PL proven and is good enough to play for a top 6 side already.

Outside bet for top pl scorer this season.

Spurs haggling at 12m ish, I can totally believe that....

Levy : we wontz Dingz, will paye 2m plus our top  yoof prospekt who is onwee firty foor years owd, he's worfe 10 mils so 12 mils good offa yes yes deal OK?

[VillaJay]

1 minute ago, MaVilla said:

Spurs haggling at 12m ish, I can totally believe that....

Levy : we wontz Dingz, will paye 2m plus our top  yoof prospekt who is onwee firty foor years owd, he's worfe 10 mils so 12 mils good offa yes yes deal OK?

Spurs and West Ham, I think I read. But you're right it's that constant haggling that has held spurs back from pushing on to the next level. It looks like we're prepared to overpay a little if it means we get out primary targets.

Ollie, Buendia and Ings all appeared a little expensive at first but I'm sure the latter two will prove great value just as Ollie has.

[Jareth]

Best part of the Ings article is that he's been targetting one final move for some time, he's going to be so motivated to get into the England squad and leave his mark on the prem - he will hit the ground sprinting

[villan-scott]

I can feel a debut goal incoming! G’wan Danny!

[JPJCB]

23 minutes ago, Jareth said:

Best part of the Ings article is that he's been targetting one final move for some time, he's going to be so motivated to get into the England squad and leave his mark on the prem - he will hit the ground sprinting

It just struck me that him and Watkins are probably around equal in the England striker pecking order (Ollie probs just ahead). Healthy competition there but hopefully not a source of tension! 

[Xela]

Got a feeling he'll score today 

[VillaChris]

Looked like the new Darren Bent out there tbh.

If he isn't getting crosses to attack he barely touched the ball. I assumed coming from Southampton he'd be a manic pressing forward like Ollie so we wouldn't lose much with him not playing but complete opposite. Too easy to mark for Watford back 4 although not helped by Buendia not doing much at all when in possesion.

Very interesting what the forward line will be next weekend.

[villarule123]

On his way to a 38 goal season. 

[rodders0223]

Off the mark is about as good as it gets from that one.

Thrives on service got nothing from Young and Anwar El Pimpernel.

[KentVillan]

Seems quite selfish around the box, I'd like to see him link up a bit more. But hard to say really, as it was only when Bailey and Traore came on that he was getting any service.

[Greenfly]

3 minutes ago, rodders0223 said:

Off the mark is about as good as it gets from that one.

Thrives on service got nothing from Young and Anwar El Pimpernel.

I'm trying to be positive here, but I imagine as a shadow striker behind a workhorse like Ollie he'll get much better. That lineup at the start was never going to do him any favours, and by the time Bert and Leon came in he never had a chance of finding space.

It may have been a penalty but a goal's a goal, it'll do his confidence some good.

[VillaChris]

6 minutes ago, Greenfly said:

I'm trying to be positive here, but I imagine as a shadow striker behind a workhorse like Ollie he'll get much better. That lineup at the start was never going to do him any favours, and by the time Bert and Leon came in he never had a chance of finding space.

It may have been a penalty but a goal's a goal, it'll do his confidence some good.

From what I saw today Ollie certainly remains number one CF pick in away games. Ings to start more at VP.

Coming from Southampton I assumed he would be this mega press forward charging around the CBs and forcing them out wide and kicking the ball out of play so we could build up pressure. Instead they had a very easy time of it.

[hippo]

21 hours ago, Xela said:

Great article. Shows that us fans, and a lot of the media, have very little idea on what is going on behind the scenes. 

The way the ings transfer came about was very much the exception though. In general when villa are in for a player you someone gets wind of it before.

[Xela]

5 hours ago, Xela said:

Got a feeling he'll score today 

I must admit I didn't expect it to be a consolation goal  

[momo]

Worst one today.

[MaVilla]

again, quality player, he will prove a good buy, unfortunately he fed off scraps and our midfield was largely absent today.

[foreveryoung]

Please Dean do not isolate him like this again in a game. Why did we not feed him. I didn't see 1 player look up for him when passing forward, with Watkins back in it'll be even worst. Need to get him on the ball every chance, he will score 70% of the time.