Why Benitez Should Raid Liverpool In January To Sign Danny Ings
Newcastle United have had a decent start to the Premier League this season. With 3 wins and 3 defeats, they are currently 9th in the league table.
However, it was a forgettable summer for Newcastle as their transfer plans were hampered by the failure to sell the players manager Rafael Benítez believed he would be able to offload after promotion. Benitez was also critical of owner Mike Ashley during the summer due to club’s lack of business during the transfer window.
Though the transfer budget is small compared to other clubs in the top flight, Newcastle should have some cash to spend in January.
In summer, the Magpies were interested in signing striker Danny Ings from Liverpool on a season-long loan. However, no deal materialised but according to latest reports, it is thought Benitez may move for Ings again.
Liverpool will reject any offers of a permanent transfer but a loan-deal might be appealing. Benitez is in desperate need to add more depth in the squad and a move for the Englishman makes sense.
Ings, 25, is perhaps best known for helping Burnley achieve promotion to the Premier League back in 2013-14 by helping them finish 2nd in the Championship. He was named the Championship Player of the year as he finished the season with 21 goals.
In the Premier League, Ings scored 11 goals but couldn’t save Burnley from getting relegated. His good form caught the attention of Liverpool and they captured him from Burnley. Well, a dream move to Liverpool was followed by a call up to the England squad in 2015.
However, his time with the Reds hasn’t gone exactly the way he’s had hoped it would. Ings suffered a succession of knee injuries and has featured in just 6 Premier League matches over two full seasons. Now after attaining full fitness, the former Burnley striker is finding it difficult to break into Jurgen Klopp’s first-team plans, mostly due to the number of high-profile forwards on the books already.
So a loan deal for Ings makes sense for Newcastle, although it will purely be a gamble given the striker has only played 12 times since moving from Burnley. In the process of easing into the team, Klopp has handed the 25-year-old just 17 minutes of first-team football this season, which came in Liverpool’s 2-0 defeat to Leicester City in the Carabao Cup.
After spending most of his two years at Liverpool on the sidelines, Ings will get a chance to resurrect his career should he move to Newcastle in January. Newcastle have struggled in front of goal, and in Ings, they will get a proven goal-scorer.
The 25-year-old is the perfect striker suited to Benitez’s style of play. Aggressive, fast and lively – Ings has everything to become a hit at Tyneside. With quick feet and high work-rate, he is also blessed with sharp movement inside the penalty area. Ings isn’t a targetman as such, but a fantastic fox-in-the box poacher, someone just like Dwight Gayle.
Ings would also bring good experience to this Newcastle side. Being of proven Premier League pedigree, it simply adds to his value and would certainly be an exciting signing for Benitez, who is keen to offload Mitrovic due to his disciplinary problems. The Serbian, a Tyneside favourite, has found first-team football hard to come by under the former Napoli manager and is a target for league’s new boys Brighton.
So, Benitez should possibly make a fresh attempt to land the striker when the January transfer window opens, as a deal may suit all parties involved. This would also present Ings a golden opportunity to slowly shrug-off the ‘injury-prone’ tag.
Who knows, an impressive loan spell with the Toons could see him get back his lost mojo and a place in Klopp’s first team plans at Liverpool next season.