Ings walks out on Liverpool to revive career
Striker rejects deal to pursue regular action Anfield stay hindered by serious knee problems
Danny Ings has decided to leave Liverpool this summer in order to find regular first-team football, coming to an amicable agreement with the club, who wanted him to stay.
The 25-year-old was offered a new long-term deal but has decided that his best chance of being a firstteam regular lies away from Anfield. Jurgen Klopp would have preferred the striker to stay but both manager and club recognise his reasons for going.
Liverpool are expected not to ask for a prohibitive fee for the player, who has two years left on his contract. The decision has been made reluctantly by Ings, who turns 26 next month, but with the rise to pre-eminence of the forward line of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino, he felt he had no option at this stage of his career.
Over three years, in which he has struggled with two major injuries, he fought his way back into the first-team reckoning this season, and it was Daniel Sturridge who left on loan in January rather than Ings, who made 14 first-team appearances from September, scoring against West Bromwich Albion in April.
It was a blow for him not to be named among the substitutes for the Champions League final last month.
In the past there has been interest from Tottenham Hotspur, who wanted to sign Ings as a free agent when he left Burnley in 2015, and have since inquired about him. There has also been interest over the last three years from Newcastle, West Ham, Leicester and Wolves. He could have left Liverpool in the last two transfer windows but opted to stay and fight for his place.
Ings has always wanted to stay at Liverpool, where he has been popular with fans for his commitment and impact from the bench. He ruptured cruciate ligaments in his first training session under Klopp in October 2015. He came back 13 months later only to suffer knee cartilage damage which ended his season early for the second season.
He has one England cap, against Lithuania in 2015.