After having an initial compensation offer believed to be in the region of £4mil for the services of Danny Ings turned down by Burnley FC, Liverpool have attempted to avoid having the matter decided by a tribunal by upping the proposed settlement to a respectable £6mil.
This offer is also expected to be rejected; the Championship side, freshly relegated from the Premier League, are widely tipped to be holding out for a fee much closer to £10mil as they look to bring in reinforcements capable of helping them bounce straight back up to the top flight. Although the 22-year old was free to agree to terms with the Anfield outfit on a Bosman after he let his contract with the Turf Moor side expire, under Football Association rules relating to his age, the Clarets are owed compensation for him.
While that amount could vary widely as it’s assessed on a case by case basis, Liverpool do have a number of factors working to their advantage. When Chelsea were ordered to pay a record £6.5mil compensation package to Manchester City following Daniel Sturridge’s move to Stamford Bridge, his long-standing association with the Citizens, the wages that the Blues were offering and the fact that the deal was between two Premier League clubs were all factored into the equation. Burnley, in contrast, don’t have any of those boxes ticked when it comes to Ings.
Having arrived at Turf Moor from Bournemouth for £1mil, the 22-year old wasn’t a product of their academy, nor are they still a top-flight club. While the Reds have not commented on just how much Ings will be pulling down for pulling on the famous old shirt, it’s unlikely to be anywhere near the amount that Sturridge was pocketing from the mega-rich Londoners. All signs point to the fact that they should take the money and run — unless, you know, they want to end up like Blackpool who asked for held out for £8mil from Hull City for Tom Ince and had to settle for £2.3mil when the tribunal told the Seasiders just how unreasonable they were being.
