Aston Villa were very busy during the previous summer transfer window, which saw the Midlands club sell Jack Grealish to Manchester City in a record-breaking deal worth £100m.
The Villans were also pretty active when it came to signing some new players as well, which then led to them being busy once again in the following January market.
Now that the latest Premier League season is drawing to a close in a couple of months, the focus will soon be on the next summer transfer period and what the Villans could be getting up to in it.
However, it seems as though a clue has been dropped regarding the future of one of their recent recruits.
What’s the talk?
Speaking to Football FanCast, journalist and transfer insider Pete O’Rourke had this to say about the upcoming summer transfer window and what it could mean for Villa striker Danny Ings, in particular.
He said: “I’m sure if Ings does get a bit unsettled, that there will be plenty of takers in the Premier League for him.”
The striker arrived at Villa Park back in August from fellow Premier League club Southampton in a deal worth a reported fee of £25m, which was described by journalist Seb Stafford-Bloor as being “wonderfully old fashioned.”
Disaster for Villa?
Since then, the Englishman has gone on to score five goals and provide five assists in 23 Premier League appearances.
Having only started 18 of the 23 league games he’s played in for Steven Gerrard’s side and with there being some inconsistencies in the regularity of his goals, it’s easy to see why O’Rourke has discussed the possibility of the former Saints star being or becoming unsettled at the Midlands club.
With a total of 60 goals under his belt in 163 Premier League appearances throughout his career, it’s also easy to see other clubs will be wanting to have the 29-year-old in their squad if he does potentially become available in the summer.
However, if the Villans were to sell the striker in the summer after just one season at the club, it would surely be a sizeable disaster for Johan Lange and the Villa hierarchy.
After all, this year hasn’t exactly been ideal for the player in terms of his injury issues and the fact that he’s had to adapt to playing under Dean Smith at the start of the campaign followed by Gerrard after his arrival in November,
To shell out such a significant transfer fee to bring the centre-forward to the club and have him on hefty £100k-per-week wages, cutting ties with him so soon would not be a good look for them at all.
It would also surely be a big blow for the fans who are likely to be raging if Ings leaves Villa Park given the goal contributions he’s provided so far this season in addition to the possibility of him becoming a more integral and dangerous figure for the team if he gets the time to get more comfortable.
In other news: NSWE howler: Villa dodged a huge bullet over £120k-p/w flop, he’s a “shambles”