Ings officially turns down new 4 year deal per David Ornstein (so definitely correct rather than some Dan Sheldon speculation):
Southampton’s preparations for the upcoming Premier League season have suffered an untimely setback after striker Danny Ings turned down a lucrative new contract with the south coast side.
The 28-year-old England international has been in lengthy negotiations to extend his existing terms, which are due to expire in 2022, and there was optimism at St Mary’s that he would sign.
Southampton presented a fresh four-year deal that would have made Ings the best-paid player in their history — but the former Liverpool attacker is understood to have rejected it as he targets another chance to join a team competing towards the top of the table, either this summer or next.
There is no sense of the proposed money being unsatisfactory and previous reports claimed that there was difficulty finding an agreement on the size of a release clause, which indicates this comes down to Ings’s desire to test himself at a higher level rather than any financial motivation.
Unless he experiences a change of heart, Southampton will need to decide whether their main source of goals should be sold in the current transfer window or let go as a free agent in 12 months. There are not thought to be concerns about his professionalism in either scenario.
The bid remains on the table and barring an approach that is too good to refuse, Southampton are content to let Ings see out his contract
This will inevitably heighten the scrutiny around Ings when he assembles for the beginning of pre-season training today. However, club sources expect his performance levels and commitment to remain unaffected for as long as he is a member of Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl’s squad.
The stance Ings has taken suggests he is still confident of earning an opportunity with one of the division’s leading contenders and will wait for that instead of taking the security offered by Saints.
As The Athletic reported in February, Ings was under consideration at Manchester City while he is also admired by Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur have tried to secure him in the past. Ings saw his Liverpool career hampered by injury but after being loaned to Southampton for the 2018-19 campaign, he scored eight times in 25 games to secure a £20 million permanent move.
Since then, the ex-Bournemouth and Burnley frontman has registered a further 38 goals in 75 appearances and returned to the England fold last year, finding the net in a friendly against Wales.
Although Hasenhuttl expressed belief in May that Ings would end speculation over his future by putting pen to paper, such hope now seems thin and it gives Southampton an unwanted headache as they attempt to plan ahead.
Blackburn’s Adam Armstrong is of interest and initial enquiries are believed to have occurred, but the 24-year-old was not identified as a replacement for Ings at this moment in time.
) that it is no foregone conclusion that he has to be sold this summer, therefore won’t be allowed to leave for peanuts so they’ll have to fork up.