According to reports in The Sun on July 31, Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez is a fan of Liverpool striker Danny Ings and could look to bring him to St James’ Park before the summer transfer window slams shut at the end of this month.
The 25-year-old attacker has only recently returned to training following an operation on his knee and while Benitez is keen to bring him to St James’ Park, The Sun suggests striking a deal with the Reds could be difficult with relations strained following the Magpies’ pursuit of winger Sheyi Ojo earlier in the summer.
The Spaniard wants to strengthen his squad in order to ensure that they aren’t embroiled in a Premier League relegation battle in the upcoming season on their return to the top flight.
However, he is yet to bring in a new striker despite The Sun saying the Tyneside outfit have been interested in the likes of Arsenal’s Lucas Perez, Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham – who opted to join Swansea City on loan – and Villarreal’s Cedric Bakambu.
Here are three reasons Newcastle must get a deal for Ings over the line…
They need a striker
Having sold Daryl Murphy to Nottingham Forest last month, Rafa Benitez has been left with Dwight Gayle, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Siem de Jong, Ayoze Perez and Emmanuel Riviere as his centre-forward options, although De Jong and Perez usually play in a deeper role and Riviere is looking likely to exit St James’ Park this summer.
It means that the Spaniard is desperate to bring in a new striker and having missed out on the likes of Abraham and struggled to get deals for Perez and Bakambu done, according to The Sun, the former Liverpool manager may feel that a deal to bring Ings to the club on loan could be more realistic and achievable with current Reds boss Jurgen Klopp likely to want him to get some regular game time.
Style of play
While Ings has struggled to get his Liverpool career going because of two serious injuries following a move from Burnley in 2015, he showed the Merseyside outfit enough in his one full season in the Premier League that he can make a real impact at this level.
The striker scored 11 goals in 35 top flight appearances for the Clarets in the 2014/15 campaign following their promotion from the Championship, and he showed what a good finisher he can be.
The 25-year-old is also a pest and loves to press from the front and try and force defenders into making mistakes, and that could mean that he would be an important player for Newcastle in the upcoming campaign as they could find themselves on the back foot in the majority of games.
Budget issues
According to reports in The Mirror on July 31, Newcastle risk missing out on the signing of Benfica midfielder Andreas Samaris because of budget issues for Benitez.
The Spaniard may well be juggling his resources as he looks to bring more new players to the newly-promoted club and signing Ings on a loan deal from Liverpool would certainly save him some money that could be spent elsewhere on the squad.
The 25-year-old has shown that he can score goals for a struggling side at this level – the Magpies certainly could find themselves towards the wrong end of the table this season – and while it would be a slightly risky move because of his injury troubles, he would boost their frontline.
Do you agree, Magpies fans? Let us know below.