With Harry Kane not yet proven in the Premier League and with Roberto Soldado toiling on English shores, Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino went into 2015 desperate to add a new centre-forward to his ranks.
And there was one name right at the top of his post-Christmas wishlist. Danny Ings, ESPN say, was Pochettino’s top target. And with good reason. The Argentine has always liked hard-working young players; the type of which he can mould into key cogs in his high-pressing machine.
And Ings, then just 22 years of age, ticked a lot of boxes. According to Sky Sports, Tottenham were even willing to pay a £12 million compensation fee to Burnley following the expiry of Ings’ contract at Turf Moor.
There was considerable disappointment, then, when a man who marked his debut top-flight campaign with 11 goals for a relegated Clarets side rebuffed Pochettino’s advances in favour of Liverpool. A Liverpool side who, let’s not forget, were far from the force they would soon become under Jurgen Klopp.
Mauricio Pochettino wanted Aston Villa striker Danny Ings at Tottenham Hotspur
Seven years on, however, Pochettino and Ings could soon be sharing a dressing room at last; Aston Villa making the former PSG coach their number one candidate should Steven Gerrard’s position become untenable (Telegraph).
“It’s a job that would be attractive to Mauricio,” former Villa coach Tim Sherwood tells talkSPORT of Pochettino, who’s once-glittering reputation has taken a couple of sizeable body blows following an underwhelming end to his Spurs career and a difficult spell in Paris.
“(Aston Villa) is a big club. A huge football club. The opportunity to go and manage at Villa, with the finances that they have, would be a great opportunity.”
Sherwood has a point. Villa might not be on a level with Manchester United or Real Madrid. Two clubs who have been heavily linked with Pochettino over the years. But they are one of the most ambitious, historic footballing institutions based in a league the manager knows and adores. There’s plenty of money to spend, and a talented squad just waiting to be harnessed.
Ings, for instance, has scored just eight goals in 28 Premier League starts for Villa. His story is a familiar one. A lavishly-talented footballer brought in for big money without a clear plan of how to get the best out of him.
Could Pochettino succeed where Gerrard and Dean Smith failed?
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