Recent transfer speculation that West Ham could be willing to settle Danny Ings’ wages makes little sense.
It could, of course, be a case of mistaken identity, given that the Hammers were considering a similar deal with Kurt Zouma before he travelled to Saudi to complete a move. However, the two situations are quite different, even though both players are on similarly high wages.
While Ings is unlikely to feature prominently for West Ham this season, the striker has not been pushing for a move and is understood to have a good relationship with head coach Julen Lopetegui.
As shown in the first game of the season against Aston Villa, Lopetegui is more than willing to use the former Liverpool striker as a substitute when the Hammers are chasing a game.
Ings may not be in his prime, but he is fit, available, and still somewhat of an asset for the club, even if his original £15 million valuation has depreciated.
The forward’s situation is very different from Zouma’s, who is unable to pass the most stringent medicals and would prefer to leave the London Stadium if no first-team football is available.
In essence, the Hammers are fully aware that they cannot drive a hard bargain for the French central defender and would be happy just to remove him from the books. However, the club remains hopeful they will be able to find a club for Ings and mitigate some of the financial loss.
From what I can see Ings was signed in January 2023 on a two and a half year contract for £12M plus £3M add ons.
I would think it unlikely that much in add ons have been paid given his poor performance, although add ons are sometimes related to team performance too. We’re probably looking at £12M not £15M.
I’m not quite sure how amortisation of half a year happens but I assume that one and a half years have been amortised with one year still to be.
So I’m guessing that £7.2M has been amortised leaving him as worth £4.8M on the books.
All this talk about ‘offloading the deadwood’ and needing to sell before buying, seems to me, to have an element of smoke & mirrors.
Ings is still a useful asset, he’s not the player he was, but strikers never loose the eye for goal, Ings just needs service (Something missing under previous regime).
Even Zouma can provide solid cover/rotation, remember, he played 3424 minutes across 40 games last season (3 goals), so he’s not exactly in a wheelchair?
If he can secure a lucrative contract in Saudi, then I wish him well, but if not, it’s not end of the world if West Ham to pay the £4mil. remaining on his contract to help West Ham secure European football.
The article by Gonzo and comments by John and B bring a lot of sense to the Ings position and is much better than the almost hate situation that several ‘experts’ ???? seem to be trying to build. As a six decade supporter this has been the most exciting summer period ever and really looking forward to the seson but totally aware that it may take at least until Xmas to establish ‘the team’. COYH
I’d keep Ings if we could. I prefer him to Mickey who I haven’t a clue why he is playing at the moment.
He’s been great for us but now spends far too much time falling over “matrix style” that the refs just roll their eyes.