‘Never helpful’: Manager expresses worry on his £20m star’s future amid Tottenham interest

Follow us on Google Discover

Ralph Hasenhuttl has shared that the transfer situation of reported Tottenham and Everton target, Danny Ings, is ‘never helpful’, as he told BBC Sport. 

The Southampton striker, who is wanted by the likes of Spurs and Everton, has one year remaining on his current deal.

But rumours have been rife that the English striker won’t be signing a new deal at St Mary’s, as reported by The Telegraph.

This has left the Saints in a tricky situation. Do they stick with their man and risk losing him on a free in 12 months? Or do they cash in now?

Either way, it’s ‘not a perfect’ situation as the Southampton manager put it himself which would worry his own supporters. 

“We need this player, we want him to play for us,” said Hasenhuttl. “But I think it’s never helpful to go into the last season with one year left – this is what I think he should know.

“He’s our player for another year, we paid a lot of money for him. When we brought him here, we invested a lot to get him to the highest level and how he is at the moment. We stuck with him with all these injuries he had, gave him the time to recover, gave him the time to perform.

“There’s no reason to sell him, but it’s always a risk for the player when you go into your final year without a contract. That’s why it’s never good for nobody, not for us, not for him, because you never know what can happen in football – injuries can happen, which nobody wants.

“People on our team are telling him what to do, we have our opinions about what we want him to do. He’s our player and we’d love him to be here, but one thing is also clear – when he is not extending his contract, that it is not a perfect situation for him, it’s not a perfect situation for us.”

This is an ample opportunity for those interested parties to pounce for Ings’ talents and try to lure him towards their direction this summer.

Ings may have had injury problems in the past, but one thing is for sure, the £20 million (BBC Sport) hitman is a proven goalscorer. 

And whilst the likes of Spurs and Everton have two top marksman in their ranks – Harry Kane and Dominic Calvert Lewin – depth is needed for both clubs.