Ralph Hasenhuttl has made a bold claim that Saints will not be phased if Danny Ings prefers not to sign a new deal just yet, but they will not be looking to cash in on him and will let him see out the remaining 18 months left on his contract.

Ralph Hasenhuttl has shown the club's position on the current Danny Ing's contract situation and that is the club want to keep Ings and are not willing to sell him before the end of his contract, unless it is in the best interest of Southampton FC itself and that means either an unbelievable offer the club cannot turn down, or they feel they already have the right replacement.

Brave words that we have heard before, but this time with Hasenhuttl so embedded in everything the club do, this time it is believable that we will stand firm, here is what the Austrian had to say.

"He stays with us until the end of his contract, that's either that there comes a club and it's based on money - I don't know if he wants this, I don't know if he wants to leave.

"I know what he has with the club. I know how much the fans love him here, which we can give him. I mean, he made it as an English international from this club so that you don't have to be part of the top six clubs to reach the internationals for England.

"Yeah, sure, money is always a good argument, especially when you look at the bigger clubs, how much is spent on players, but I think we wanted to show him how much we want him."

"I think this message is coming and the rest is on him to decide if he wants to stay with us. If not, we will also find a future - but I hope he will because he's a very important player for our team and we do everything that he can to score for the team.

"He works for the team, so that's a good relationship, and it’s a very important signal that I see that more and more players want to sign here and more and more players want to stay with us, and the rest is up to him."

When asked to confirm if the club will refuse to cash in on him, even if he turns down a new deal, Hasenhuttl said: "If he doesn't want to sign a new contract, then he stays with us, and I only sell him if there is an offer that we definitely cannot avoid.

"I cannot deny that but he is not 20 or 22 years old and I think a top club has an [opportunity] to take him.

"I think this is not what he wants to do and he knows how I feel, so I am still positive that he stays with us and I don't think about anything else.

"He knows how much we want him. I think he feels comfortable. He feels the atmosphere is fantastic to play his football. He enjoys playing with us. I don't see any reason why he shouldn't stay with us."

These are not just brave words from Hasenhuttl they are also very clever ones as well, he has set out the club's position to both the player and the fans but also potential buyers.

With regard to Ings there is no doubt he has an attachment to the club, after all it is is hometown and that will pull at the heartstrings, but he will also know that he will be 29 next summer and in terms of a playing career for a very top club he is reaching the age where he will not be so attractive as a signing.

The real tricky part for a buying club is that his shelf life is shortening, they want players who they can spend big on, who will be at the peak of their game for four years and then they can recoup some of the cash to repeat the exercise again .

This is no different than how Saints do things, just we do it further down the food chain, buying players with potential and making them great.

So if a big club was to buy Ings then they would be looking at him as a first choice player for literally 18 -24 months tops and then at 31 they would be looking to replace him.

This is too short term for most of the top clubs, Liverpool & Manchester City would not be interested and neither would Chelsea, that leaves only Manchester United possibly although they perhaps have the firepower already and then Arsenal & Spurs, you can possibly discount Spurs, they are interested but will the player be, they want him as back up, Arsenal much prefer youth when they make big signings.

Everton might well have been mentioned in that they have the money, but with Calvert Lewin bursting into life they don't need him. Likewise Leicester, they now that at 33 Jamie Vardy wont go on much longer, but they need someone who can replace him gradually over the net year or so and then for another 4 years, that isn't Danny Ings.

So for Ings a big money move might now be out of his reach due to his age, after the 8 clubs mentioned there are not any that can offer anything Saints cant in terms of on the pitch, unless he wants to just take the cash at somewhere like West Ham.

Hasenhuttl has also been clever in pointing out how much he means to the fans, this will put emotional pressure on him and the supporters themselves will be urging him to sign a new deal, never since Rickie Lambert has a player meant so much to the supporters than Ings, especially because he is local so one of our own.

Hopefully the reality is that Ings's agent is well aware of the options available to his client and they are limited, what he will be looking to do is push up the money he can get for his client from Saints and that is the name of the game.

One thing though, the real fact is that Saints have to do what is best for them and Danny Ings has to do what is best for him, at some stage a deal might be on the table that is right for both Saints and Ings, every player has his price and sometimes you just have to take the money on the table taking all things into account.

This is not making us a selling club, it just means that we are sticking to the blueprint started under Ted Bates and continued on since, selling a player for good money should not be a backward step, as long as we reinvest it well.

It will be hard to replace Danny Ings if he goes, but even if he stays at some stage we would have to find a replacement, the question is always about getting the balance right, when to hold and when to be sold.

Photo: Action Images

NewburySaint added 10:04 - Dec 7 Out of all the clubs that you could argue are bigger (& better?) than Saints I would think only Arsenal & WHam would consider/need Ings so nut much of a choice really!
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underweststand added 10:18 - Dec 7 There's always criticism about being a "selling club", and my late father always said how sad he was that a " cash-strappped " Saints sold Ted Drake to Arsenal in 1934. (!) The truth of the matter is - if the player sees a golden opportunity to improve his career then he will go - sooner or later. (ala VvD and Hojbjerg and the many before them). The fly in the ointment is often "the player's agent " ...." leave it to me lad, and I'll get the best deal for both you and ME", which often means blackmailing the club. If Danny Ings is definitely happy back with Saints, then he should say so and show it by signing an extension. If he stays on to the end of his contract then he can walk away for nothing in 2022. Needless to say the likes of Spurs would welcome him with open arms and pay him whatever he wants. ..as long as he's happy to sit on their bench and wait for Kane and Son to get tired after 70 minutes , and then play the same sub.role for England. At a humble fan's level, few players have won the hearts of the fans in the last decade as Danny has, but I only hope that their patience lasts out until the matter is resolved. The bottom line is ...IF anyone wants to go we should let them and then get in someone who is keen to play for us, or find new talent from the Academy who have already worked 5-10 years to earn a place.

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halftimeorange added 10:27 - Dec 7 If Danny doesn't sign and elects to see out his contract then any sign of a dip in form as he doesn't want to be here and some fans will be on his back. My guess is that, if he refuses our offer and any club comes in with an bid around what we paid for Danny, we'll accept and he'll be gone for a bigger payday. With his injury record it would be hard to blame him.

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Sanguin added 11:01 - Dec 7 I really hope he signs and sees out the rest of his career with us. I wouldn't begrudge him another go at a top club with Champions League football, but I can't think of a top team he would be guaranteed to start at. If someone offers us £40-50m in the summer for him then we'll have a difficult choice to make, but ultimately it will be up to Ings and whether he feels he'll do anything more than sit on the bench wherever he goes.

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highfield49 added 11:31 - Dec 7 I'm guessing that Spurs are behind this, offering more money, unsettling Ings, and financing his wages via a cheapskate transfer fee. The probability of European football next season, at the expense of playing a bench warming role of course, and the possibility of winning a domestic trophy might well be preferable to the high intensity game he is expected to play here. Saints style of play suits younger players with stamina and recent games have demonstrated to me that the likes of Bertrand and Long wont be starters come the end of this campaign. I wouldn't be too surprised if either player moved on if there were bids for their services next month. I'd like Ings to stay but I'm not convinced that he can maintain the physical condition that is demanded by the tactical demands. A tough decision coming up for Ings but we all know that once a head has been turned the outcome has an almost certain inevitability.

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saintmark1976 added 12:12 - Dec 7 Bearing in mind that S F C made a loss of £39 Million in the year to June 2019 (the last for which accounts are available) then I suspect that any sensible offer for Ings would be accepted with open arms by our current owners. After all, it’s not as though they haven’t got “previous” in this direction is it. Ralph’s opinion would not come in to the equation, the owners would simply remind him that at the end of the day he is just an employee, much like the players he manages.

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SaintPaulVW added 13:04 - Dec 7 I would like him to stay but to my mind, Adams, being the same type of player, was bought as a medium term replacement. If the offer is right, I'm sure Ings will go in the next year. I don't begrudge him. Given the problems he has had if he's got one last shot at a PL title, Europe, or, even just a big payday at the end of his career he's got to take it. As with KWP and PEH, transfers should be about making both clubs better. A big chunk of cash for an older player with a built in replacement already up to speed would seem to be smart business.

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