The former Bournemouth and Aston Villa star shared his decision to leave Bodymoor Heath was quite easy.
The return of Aston Villa in the top flight did not start off well. They were struggling for safety at first and could only finish in the bottom half under Dean Smith. It did not really change when Steven Gerrard was in charge. At that time, playing in Europe was just a dream, let alone compete in the Champions League.
The arrival of Unai Emery changed everything. The progress was inevitable and consequently, some players would have to be sacrificed due to their different style of play from Emery’s demand. One of those who had to fall down in the pecking order is the England international, Danny Ings.
The former Liverpool man had to find himself in limited playing time despite scoring goals, especially under Dean Smith. He then eventually left Villa Park in January 2023 following the offer from West Ham. Ings shared his opinion on the move to Sky Sports as reported in Birmingham mail.
“It was a perfect move for me. I always wanted to play for a London club at some point in my career so it was a no-brainer. “
Ings, who was signed in the summer 2021 by Dean Smith, had found that he was no longer the first choice while Steven Gerrard was at the helm of the Lions. His minutes on the pitch were getting even less as Emery arrived.
“I didn’t actually expect to leave. I was doing quite well for Villa at the time, I was scoring goals so it was a bit unexpected and it happened so quickly,”
“At Villa, although I was doing well, I wasn’t finding myself playing week in, week out and that was difficult – when you’re scoring goals and that’s not happening, it’s tough.”
Thus, when The Hammers came knocking, he instantly said yes, even if West Ham was in the relegation zone. He eventually helped them avoid going down to the Championship.
The striker with three international caps with England had an OK form while playing for The Clarets and Blue. He featured in 52 games, netting 14 times and providing eight assists in all competitions.
Despite his fine goal scoring record, Ings was barely able to make a difference while playing against big teams. His goals mainly were scored versus the teams from bottom half instead such as Wolverhampton, Everton, Brentford, and his former side, Southampton.
No wonder that Emery is looking for an upgrade in terms of skills, mentality and age. At that time in the January transfer window, Villa finally secured a deadly young frontman, Jhon Duran from Chicago Fire. He did not take long to make the difference in Villa’s attacking side.
The current Wycombe frontman used to play for Bournemouth too in his early career back in 2010 to 2012 when The Cherries were still competing in the third tier. His move to London appeared to be a blessing in disguise as he had a chance to lift the European trophy instead while helping David Moyes’ men clinching UEFA Conference League in 2023.
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