Ings has joined Aston Villa from Southampton in a shock £30million deal, and it turns out that the Saints players were just as stunned as the rest of us following the news
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Danny Ings’ sudden £30million move to Aston Villa surprised many fans up and down the country, but it appears that even the Southampton players were shocked to hear news of the departure.
Ings joins Villa on a three-year-deal as Dean Smith has wasted no time in reinvesting the £100million that the club are set to receive from Manchester City for Jack Grealish.
The former Liverpool striker is Villa’s fourth signing of the window, joining Emi Buendia, Leon Bailey and Ashley Young, and it appears that the West Midlands side aren’t finished just yet.
Southampton must now find a new striker, with the Saints players shocked to discover their main man has left.
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The Saints were victorious at home to Levante on Wednesday night as they beat the Spanish club 1-0 in a friendly, but Oriol Romeu revealed that his side only found out that Ings had left after the game.
In an interview with Sky Sports following the victory over Levante, Romeu revealed: “I just found out after the game, they just told me.”
Romeu explained that: “We saw this morning he wasn’t there and we thought, I don’t know, he had something and apparently he has moved to Villa.”
The absence of Ings had the players bemused until the news broke that their striker had left following the final whistle on Wednesday night, and with no warning the Southampton players now must adapt to life without their star man.
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However, it doesn’t appear that Ings’ former teammates hold anything against the Englishman following his move, as Romeu said: “There’s really nothing we can say, he’s been great for us, we want to wish him all the best.
“He’s probably also going to do a great job over there. He’s a great lad, a good guy to have around and an amazing player.”
Ings scored 46 goals during 100 appearances for Southampton across all competitions, and the striker narrowly missed out on the golden boot two seasons ago as his 22-goal haul during the 2019/20 season was just beaten by Jamie Vardy (23).
The Englishman joined Southampton on-loan from Liverpool back in 2018 before his move was made permanent before the start of the 2019/20 season, and Ings will be a difficult man to replace, with less than a month of the window remaining.
Che Adams may have a more important role this season than previously anticipated, with the 25-year-old tasked with filling Ings’ boots should the Saints fail to secure a decent replacement.
Villa have also been interested in James Ward-Prowse, but with Ings already leaving the club, Ralph Hasenhuttl will be extremely reluctant to let arguably his two best assets leave during the same window, with the Premier League only eight days away.
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