With news breaking this morning that Liverpool are ready to make a move for Burnley striker Danny Ings before the transfer window closes,, the Clarets haven’t wasted any time shutting down suggestions that the 22-year old has everything but his bags packed.
The fact that he has only six months remaining on his current deal hints at a departure in the future with Spanish side Real Sociedad and fellow Premier League outfit Tottenham Hotspur also in contention for his signature, but the Reds are believed to be in pole position to sign him up — just not in the way that was being widely touted before. There were suggestions that the Anfield outfit could loan the England man back to the newly promoted side for the remainder of the season, but Burnley chief executive Lee Hoos wasn’t hearing it, “This type of move would violate Premier League rule V7 regarding transfers so simply cannot happen,” he said in a statement released by the club earlier today.
With Daniel Sturridge set to return to the match day squad for the first time in the better part of five months when West Ham United visit tomorrow, the immediate need for fire-power will — for the most part anyway — be abated as long as the 25-year old remains healthy. That, of course, doesn’t rule out the possibility of the Reds swooping in and signing Ings up with the trio of Mario Balotelli, Rickie Lambert and Fabio Borini all being outscored by the less fancied Clarets man.
Since he’s under 24-years old, even if Liverpool were to sign him as a free agent in the summer, Burnley would still be in line for compensation in the region of £3mil from an English side, but will only snag around £200,000 should he move to a foreign outfit. Regardless of all that, Hoos has not only pointed out that the Reds can’t loan Ings back to them, but that they’re not about to let him leave Turf Moor in the immediate future anynway. “Over the course of the window, the player himself, (manager) Sean Dyche and the chairman have made it clear he won’t be going anywhere and we consider that the end of the matter” continued the CEO. He may have closed the book on it, but there’s little doubt that someone will try to open it again before all is said and done…
