Primary Position – Centre Forward

Other position(s) – Support Striker

Last season’s form – Games 32 / 12 goals 4 assists

Born in Winchester, England in 1992, Ings started his youth career with AFC Bournemouth in 2008 and went on to make 27 appearances for the South coast side, scoring seven goals. After a loan spell at Dorchester Town in 2010, he signed for then Championship side Burnley where he notched 38 goals over 122 appearances. Liverpool signed the forward in the 2015/16 transfer window but in his first training session under Klopp, he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury which ruled him out for most of the season. Unfortunately, he suffered a knee injury in October 2016 which ruled him out for another nine months. After a difficult spell at Anfield, he signed for Southampton in August 2018 for a fee of £18 million. He was prolific for the Saints, scoring 34 goals in 67 appearances with the highlight being the 22 goals he scored in 2019/20.

After losing Grealish to Man. City, Villa splashed the cash by signing Ings to bolster their attack and he will be their third signing in attack alongside Buendia and Bailey. Villa played a sole striker system last season with Watkins spearheading their attack so it will be interesting to see if Smith changes their system to get the best out of the new signings. Ings is not very effective in a wide berth so it is likely that Watkins will be stationed on the wing to accommodate the new signing. Though he has not trained much with Villa, Ings did take part in preseason with Southampton so his fitness levels should not prevent him being thrown straight into the starting lineup in gameweek one. Given Villa’s kind early fixtures and Ings’ proven pedigree in the Premier League, he could be an astute pick at just 8.0. 

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