Newcastle will need to be wary of Southampton’s Danny Ings on Saturday and will be hoping they don’t come to regret not moving for him in the summer.
He has only scored three goals so far this season but his contribution to Southampton shouldn’t be questioned.
Ings has been involved in 60% of Southampton’s goals this campaign.
The forward is a constant goal threat with 18 shots inside the penalty area in eight games.
As well as his this, he has created 10 goal-scoring chances with only Nathan Redmond creating more for Southampton (12).
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It’s crucial then that the Toon handle the threat of Ings to get a result at the weekend.
But with Newcastle struggling in front of goal, many fans are wondering why the club didn’t sign the striker for themselves.
Why Newcastle didn’t sign Ings
A lot of clubs made efforts to sign Ings this summer after he regained some fitness at the end of last season.
The striker had suffered with injuries in his time at Liverpool and eventually fell down the pecking order.
But some appearances off the bench and a goal against West Brom in April showed glimpses of the Danny Ings who had been so successful at Burnley.
The race was then on to see who could sign the Englishmen first.
Several reports claimed Rafa Benitez was one manager to have shown an interest.
In July, It was reported in The Times that Newcastle had a made a bid for Ings.
And in August The Northern Echo reported talks with the Toon over a loan deal with a view to a permanent £15 million move.
It was a deal similar to this one that Ings eventually took at Southampton.
After this season’s loan, the striker will sign for The Saints permanently in July 2019.
Southampton agreed an £18 million deal with Liverpool with a further £2 million based on appearances.
To secure him it appears Newcastle would have had to smash their transfer fee record.
The ex-Liverpool forward is also on £75,000 a week at Southampton, a higher wage than anyone in the Newcastle squad.
Put simply, they weren’t willing to pay the money for him.
The club have come under criticism for not reinvesting money gained from Aleksandar Mitrovic’s sale. However, not blowing it all on Ings may still prove to be a wise decision.
The forward has been very injury-prone in the last three seasons and to sign him for that much money would have been a huge risk.
Newcastle’s match against Southampton will see whether the club was wrong not to have taken such a gamble.