England international Danny Ings has turned down a new contract at Southampton, as per the Athletic.
They report the Saints are willing to make him the highest-paid player in their history.
But Ings hasn’t signed a new deal – yet – and his contract is now in its final year.
The report says Manchester United are admirers of Ings and the Telegraph reported in May that he’s a target for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
In the past two seasons Ings has scored 34 Premier League goals. Anthony Martial has 21, and was very poor last season.
Ings is proven in the Premier League, and should be affordable for United given his contract situation.
Edinson Cavani won’t be able to start all 38 league games plus cup competitions at 34.
And actually being a squad option might suits Ings better too, given his injury issues down the years.
Between the two of them, Cavani and Ings would offer a real goal threat and could balance the workload to avoid burnout.
Nobody would pretend Ings would be a hugely thrilling striking purchase, but with a large sum tied up in signing Jadon Sancho, United need to get decent value elsewhere.
A move for Ings along with Sancho allows enough funds left over to be spent on a central midfielder or a centre-back, with Eduardo Camavinga and Raphael Varane being touted.
Entering the final year of his contract is a sure sign Ings wants to move this summer and the fact he’s not at Euro 2020 means a deal can be done sooner.
United should be looking at the situation and figuring out how much Southampton would accept this summer as they now face the prospect of losing him for nothing in a year’s time.
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