Having reportedly seen off competition from Man United and Tottenham, Liverpool announced that Danny Ings agreed personal terms with the club last month. The striker will sign on a “free” transfer – subject to a medical – now that his Burnley contract has expired, though because Ings (22) is under the age of 24, the Lancashire outfit are entitled to a compensation fee that has yet to be agreed upon.
Discussing his move, Ings is determined to nail down a regular role in a season of transition for the Merseysiders, with the forward citing Brendan Rodgers as a major factor in his decision:
“I’ve worked my way from the bottom so it is even more special for me. It’s a challenge I am looking forward to. I never get complacent with anything like that and, now I’ve got that move, I will work even harder to try and get into that team and be the best professional I can be. I’ve always had that confidence but, of course, it is a boost being a Liverpool player. I can’t wait to get started; to work with Brendan Rodgers and the players at Liverpool is an unbelievable dream come true for me. He is good with young players and as soon as I knew he was interested it was a no-brainer and it was best for me to join Liverpool”.
The History
Ings joined Bournemouth’s youth set-up in 2006 after being rejected by Southampton’s academy. At 17 years old, the burgeoning talent made his senior debut for the south coast club on October 6 2009 – his only involvement that season.
Prior to the dawn of the next campaign, Ings was sent out to Dorchester Town on an initial one-month loan that was extended to three months. He netted four goals in nine outings for the Conference South outfit, before an injury crisis at Bournemouth prompted his recall. Consequently, Ings was handed his first start for the Cherries in December 2010 and impressed enough to earn a further 25 league appearances that term, notching seven goals and three assists in the process.
Ings’ rise to prominence alerted a raft of top clubs to his qualities, with Fulham seeing their £400,000 bid rebuffed in the 2011 summer transfer window. Burnley eventually tabled an offer that Bournemouth couldn’t refuse, snapping up the English youngster on a four-year deal rumoured to be worth around £1 million.
Ings played second fiddle to Charlie Austin and Jay Rodriquez in the 2011/12 Championship season, recording just 15 league appearances, three goals and one assist. The sale of Rodriquez to Southampton in the summer of 2012 afforded Ings a regular starting role in the following pre-season. Unfortunately, though, the Winchester-born striker tore his knee cartilage in their final warm-up fixture, ruling him out for six months. As a result, Ings clocked just 1,637 minutes in 32 appearances during the 2012/13 season, tallying three goals and one assist.
A fit-again Ings took the 2013/14 campaign by storm – earning the Championship Player of the Year award due to his 22 goals and seven assists – as Burnley sealed promotion to the top flight with a second-place finish.
The Clarets frontman got off to slow start in his debut Premier League campaign, missing three early fixtures with a hamstring injury and not opening his account until Gameweek 9. Three goals in four outings from Gameweek 10 bolstered his appeal on the Fantasy market, before a run of 12 matches that produced just four blanks rendered him a prime pick in the budget-forward bracket. A 10-match barren spell in the latter stages of the season raised cause for concern, yet there’s every chance that Ings could continue his evolution in the presence of Liverpool’s superior supporting cast.
Although Ings is still waiting on his senior England cap, he’s chalked up 12 appearances for the U21s, scoring four goals.
The Prospects
With early estimates suggesting that the injured Daniel Sturridge won’t return to first-team action until October, Ings – depending on Rodgers’ further transfer business – could potentially start next season as Liverpool’s first-choice forward. Both Rickie Lambert and Mario Balotelli flattered to deceive in their pursuit of starting berths last term and lack the pace that suits Rodgers’ system, while returning loanee Divock Origi is devoid of any Premier League experience and may well be eased into contention.
Having snapped up Roberto Firmino, though, it’s clear that Rodgers’ summer of restructuring is far from finished. Given that the Reds continue to be strongly linked with Christian Benteke it remains to be seen where Ings will sit in the pecking order by the time the summer transfer window finally slams shut.
Certainly, the Merseysiders suffered from a relative lack of goals last season, tallying 49 fewer than the campaign before. Luis Suarez’s departure to Barcelona clearly blunted their attack considerably, yet that doesn’t excuse the underwhelming shot conversion rates of their forward roster. Although Ings’ conversion rate (11.3%) was at the lower end of the spectrum, it still surpassed those of Lambert (10.5%), Sturridge (10.3%), Fabio Borini (7.1%) and Balotelli (1.8%) – with the latter’s paltry figure a particularly damning indictment in a season where now-departed skipper Steven Gerrard finished as the club’s top scorer with nine strikes to his name.
Some Fantasy managers might well be concerned by Ings’ output at the back-end of the season. Aside from a pair of goals against struggling Hull and Villa in the final three Gameweeks, he drew 11 blanks in 13 league ties, with a 6.1% shot conversion rate between Gameweeks 26-38. It’s worth taking into account that during that period only two teams (West Brom and Swansea) carved out fewer chances than Burnley’s 103, suggesting that Ings suffered from a real lack of quality service.
Having ultimately bagged 11 goals and four assists last season, Ings can be expected to come in around the 7.5–8.5 mark, on a par with Lambert’s price last time out. Should Rodgers continue to spend, though, he may well find himself eased into the first team, with the likes of Firmino and Philippe Coutinho looking guaranteed starters in midfield by comparison.
Certainly, Fantasy managers will be hoping that Rodgers can afford us a little more cohesion up front this time around, with injury and/or lack of form meaning Balotelli (ten starts), Lambert, Sturridge (both seven) and Borini (three) did little to arrive on our radars. With trips to Stoke, Arsenal and United in the opening five, though, few will be prepared to take an initial punt on Ings unless Liverpool somehow fail to sign another striker; should the likes of Benteke arrive, though, the former Burnley man will likely struggle for starts unless Rodgers turns to a two-pronged attack.
