Reports: Danny Ings rejects Southampton contract offer

Southampton striker Danny Ings has reportedly rejected the club’s offer of a four-year contract.

First reported by The Athletic and later confirmed by Sky Sports News, Ings has just one year left on his current deal with Saints.

In the past season, Ings has been continually linked with a transfer to a series of top clubs in English football, including Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.

City are rumoured to be the club that is most likely to make a move, after long-term striker Sergio Aguero departed the club earlier this summer.

If Ings isn’t sold this summer or in January, there is a chance Southampton could lose their top asset for nothing at the end of the 2021-22 season.

Ings scored 14 goals for Southampton in all competitions last season - a campaign blighted with various injury issues.

Since signing for Saints, the 28-year-old forward has scored 34 goals in 67 Premier League games since joining permanently in 2019 for a £20m fee from Liverpool.

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl appeared confident in keeping Ings when asked by Sky Sports in April, but it appears the England international wants to test himself at a top Premier League club once more.

“I think Danny, especially, will stay with us,” he told Sky Sports at the time. ”He knows with all his injuries he has had he has a very good spot to perform and come back, and I think this is important for a player.

“It’s a risk to go into a final year of a contract with the risk of getting another injury, then things can be gone. It’s something every player has to answer for themselves, and we hope he’ll be with us for longer.”