Gabby Agbonlahor thinks Aston Villa have made a £15m transfer mistake

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Former Aston Villa captain Gabby Agbonlahor disagrees with the decision to sell Danny Ings to Premier League rivals West Ham United during the January transfer window, speaking to talkSPORT (4 March, 5pm). 

Fortunately for Unai Emery and co, Ings’ departure hasn’t exactly hit Villa hard. Ollie Watkins, following the England international’s departure, has taken his game to a whole new level, scoring in five successive league games.

But still, Agbonlahor feels that a lack of depth at centre-forward could cost Aston Villa in the long term as they look to secure a top-half finish for the first time in over a decade. 

“Ollie Watkins since Ings has gone has been in outstanding form. Five (goals) in six,” Agbonlahor points out. “(If you waited until the summer to sell) maybe you wouldn’t have got that money for him. 

“(But) I would have kept him. 100 per cent. I feel the money we got for him is not going to make a big difference to Aston Villa. I would have kept Ings. But this Duran lad looks like a very good talent.”

Were Aston Villa right to sell Danny Ings to West Ham United?

Duran, the £18 million acquisition from Chicago Fire, is yet to open his account in claret-and-blue and remains entirely unproven in European football. The 19-year-old has looked lively in his early Aston Villa career, however, and offers Emery a far more long-term option in attack. 

Ings, meanwhile, has two goals in just two West Ham stars so far. He scored a brace in the 4-0 thumping of Nottingham Forest; showcasing the instinctive finishing ability that made him such a threat during those Southampton days. 

“It’s a really good signing,” former Aston Villa striker Darren Bent tells talkSPORT. 

“I think, for West Ham, (Ings is) a really good signing. Give him opportunities and he will score goals. (The fans should be) delighted because, I know he’s had a couple of down years, but in the 2019/20 season, he got 22, got himself in the England squad, and he was as prolific as anything for Southampton.

“I always think, with someone like Danny Ings, all you need to do is supply him with the chances and he will score goals,” Bent adds. “He’s a fantastic finisher with both feet. Maybe he’s not as mobile as Ollie Watkins. But Ollie Watkins can’t finish like Danny Ings.”