Danny Ings could snub reported interest from Man City and stay loyal to Southampton, a former teammate has told talkSPORT.
And the striker has been warned a transfer to the Premier League leaders could ‘backfire’ after reviving his career in a Saints shirt.
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The England international has been linked with a stunning summer move to the Etihad Stadium with Pep Guardiola on the hunt for an affordable replacement for Sergio Aguero.
The Argentine is set to leave City when his deal expires at the end of the season, and Ings – who will be entering the final year of his own contract at St Mary’s in the summer – is reportedly on their radar.
But while the transfer has been backed by a number of pundits, Ings’ former teammate Lee Grant would not be surprised to see him extend his stay at Southampton.
The Manchester United goalkeeper, who played with Ings at Burnley between 2011 and 2013, told the talkSPORT Breakfast: “He is what you would class as an absolutely diamond guy. He’s a tremendous human being.
“At Burnley, he came from Bournemouth and not a great deal of us knew anything about him. He was injured within two or three days of training.
“We were in the middle of a shooting session and he did his knee. It was a really, really horrible time for him, but the thing that stood out was his personality, his perseverance and his general good nature.
“You could just tell he was a proper, proper human being and a real, real top professional.
“So I would say, knowing Danny as I know him, that the way Southampton have treated him, the trust they showed in him after his injury record at Liverpool, will be weighing on his mind.
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“So I wouldn’t be surprised to see something happen [about signing a new deal]. Especially when you see the type of offer and the type of contract that Southampton are willing to put on the table for him.”
Ings, 28, has scored 30 goals in 60 Premier League games since joining Southampton for £20million from Liverpool in 2019.
The frontman spent four years at Anfield where he was restricted to just 25 appearances in all competitions due to injury and team selection, with Jurgen Klopp eventually allowing him to join Southampton on loan before making his move permanent.
Man City now appear to be willing to give him another chance at the top level, but Tony Cascarino has warned Ings his playing time and career could suffer if he decides to sign for Guardiola’s side.
Speaking on Tuesday’s Hawksbee and Jacobs show, the ex-Chelsea striker said: “Ings will be 29 this year, there’s a World Cup in 2022, it can backfire. There is one positive and one negative.
“The one positive is that it’s a fantastic opportunity to win trophies and on the negative side people might say, ‘you’re not going to play as much’.
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“City are in a lot of competitions, you generally will get a good number of games at Manchester City.
“But if you go to City and you didn’t play enough and they got knocked out of a competition early, you might not get enough football. I’m not a fan of players not playing enough.
“Take Danny Drinkwater [as an example], he went to Chelsea, didn’t have a chance of playing too much football and got shown the door.
“There’s the danger of going to a big club and you don’t play any football at all.”
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