West Ham United have joined Everton in the race to sign Danny Ings from Aston Villa. The forward is sought after among Premier League clubs as the Villans will permit his transfer.
That is according to the Daily Mail, which reports Everton have now seen Aston Villa reject an approach to sign Ings on loan. The Villans will only grant his exit in January if it is with a permanent sale. Yet their stance could prove problematic for Toffees boss Frank Lampard.
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The Goodison Park natives must first sell players to raise enough funds to strengthen their attack in the winter window. Aston Villa can also hold firm in their stance with West Ham joining AFC Bournemouth and Southampton in exploring a January move for their forward.
West Ham have joined Everton in targeting a transfer for Aston Villa’s Danny Ings
Everton had wanted to wrap up negotiations with Aston Villa over Ings’ transfer early on in January. But the Villans told Goodison chiefs that the 30-year-old will not be moving teams on loan this month. A new striker is high on Lampard’s hitlist to boost their survival hopes.
Bournemouth, Southampton and West Ham are also interested in Ings’ transfer to better their chances of avoiding relegation this term. But no talks are yet cited, whereas Everton’s director of football Kevin Thelwell is spearheading their chase of the former Saints striker.
Aston Villa have told Danny Ings that he is free to leave the club during January
Everton are now inside the bottom three of the Premier League table with Southampton and Wolves. While Bournemouth and West Ham are exploring Ings’ transfer from Aston Villa with the two teams only sitting 16th and 17th in the top-flight table respectively after 18 games.
Aston Villa have told Ings that he is free to leave the club in January after failing to lock up a key role under new boss Unai Emery so far. That is according to talkSPORT, which already cited interest in the forward from his former team, Southampton, as well as Bournemouth.
The Saints sold Ings to Villa in August 2021 for £25m, rising up to £30m with add-ons. They opted to sell him at the time as the three-cap England striker had entered the final year of his contract. The Telegraph also reported he wanted to leave for a Champions League side.
But Ings has only offered 14 goals and seven assists in 50 appearances in claret-and-blue in all competitions so far. He is, however, Aston Villa’s top goalscorer this term with seven, including six in the Premier League. Yet Emery does not view Ings as his first-choice striker.
Since taking over from Steven Gerrard, Emery has only started Ings in one of his five league appearances. The striker also scored a brace during his only start away at Brighton & Hove Albion before the World Cup break. He also got one goal against Wolves this Wednesday.
Ings – who Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp called ‘unbelievable’ in May 2022 – came off of the Villans’ bench to net a 78th-minute equaliser after Daniel Podence (12’) put Wolves ahead.
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