Southampton’s Danny Ings completes surprise £30m transfer to Aston Villa

Aston Villa have signed Southampton striker Danny Ings to a three-year contract.

Ings had just one year left remaining on his Southampton deal. The transfer is worth a reported £30million according to HampshireLive, a fee likely too good to turn down.

Without any rumours of an Ings move to Villa swirling ahead of the news being broken, this will come as a shock to many Southampton fans.

It was thought that Ings was holding out for a move to either Manchester City or Manchester United. However, a bid from either club was apparently not forthcoming.

Since joining on loan from Liverpool in 2018-19 before signing permanently for Saints a year later, Ings scored 41 goals in 91 appearances for his boyhood club.

In all competitions, Ings made 100 appearances for Southampton, netting 46 times in total.

Ings moving now means Southampton have the chance to bring in a replacement ahead of the new Premier League season that begins against Everton on 14 August.

Blackburn Rovers forward Adam Armstrong has been linked with a move to Southampton in recent weeks.