Stories have started in the media in the last 24 hours that Tottenham Hotspur have drawn up a wish list of strikers that they could persue to supplement Harry Kane, Danny Ings is on that list, but he would be mad to make the move to North London.
The natives are getting restless at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after a gutless home performance against Everton in Spurs opener of the new season, Jose Mourinho is reacting in his normal manner and leaking to the media that he wants to make a big signing.
However that may not be as simple as it sounds, having spent £80 million last season on top of building their new stadium, Tottenham are not flush with cash, hence very little activity so far in the summer for them, Pierre Emile Hojbjerg from Saints and Matt Doherty from Wolves both at fees short of the £20 million mark and only one significant outgoing in Kyle Walker Peters, means they have a net spend of around £20 million and the rumour is they are strapped for cash.
That would not be surprising having built the new stadium, paying for it was always going to be dependent on it generating income, firstly they have struggled to find a Naming Rights partner, they were looking for a company willing to pay £25 million a year in a long term deal, but they have failed to find anyone willing to do that and now with the Covid 19 situation that looks highly unlikely to happen soon at least at that sort of money.
They were also dependent on being able to hold 16 events a year on top of football matches, the financial impact of playing behind closed doors at the moment is a big worry on it's own, but the loss of events booked including American Football, Rugby League & Union, Boxing and pop concerts, is biting deep.
Indeed in June the club had to secure a £175m loan from the Bank of England due to the loss of expected revenue streams as matches and scheduled as the above mentioned events at the stadium had to be cancelled.
This suggests that Spurs will not be spending big on a striker, at least not without a major sale or two from their own squad first.
So this would perhaps rule Ings out from their wish list, with two years left on his contract, a place in the England squad, the services of one of the Premier Leagues most prolific strikers last year would not come cheap, to be blunt Spurs don't have that sort of cash at the moment.
This in itself is worrying, last season was not a success for Tottenham, 6th place meant that they did qualify for the Champions League and that was a big financial blow, indeed they only scraped into the Europa League on goal difference from Wolves and they seem to be on a downward spiral.
This is perhaps the second reason why Ings should not join, the squad in many respects is at it's peak in terms of age, but at the back it is not so young, Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris is 33, Toby Alderweireld is 31, Danny Rose 30, they have allowed too many to get old and not adequately replaced them.
The likes of Dele Alli were tipped for great things a few years ago but for one reason or another, he like several others haven't quite maintained their early promise, injuries and a loss of form has seen him no longer a first choice for England and he seems to have lost his way.
Spurs squad is bloated, but as their performances have showed both last season and now this, it is fragmented, there are too many who are not consistently performing to the level required and who seem to lack motivation, the managers usual answer is to spend, but it seems he is not able to do that now.
But where would Ings fit in to the Spurs team, would he be played alongside Kane ? would they both find themselves going for the same runs and same balls ? or would he find himself on the bench.
This perhaps tells you why he won't be going, Spurs haven't got much money to spent, they cannot afford the cash needed to sign Ings to be spent on a back up player, although it has to be said that is Mourinho's way.
So to the third reason why Ings would be mad to go, Mourinho, he himself seems disinterested and this seems to be showing in his teams motivation, how much longer will Mourinho be at Spurs ? History suggests not very long, one of his abilities is to get out of a club whilst the going is good, the longest he has ever been at a club is 3 years, both at Chelsea in his first spell and also Real Madrid before he left by "Mutual Consent" with 3 years left on his contract.
So why would Ings want to go to a club in turmoil both on the pitch, in the dressing room and more worryingly in the bank balance.
The striker has had a lot of knocks in the last few years, but finally at his home town club he has found real success, he is in the most prolific form of his career and he is in the England squad.
He has achieved that at St Mary's and he can continue to do so, at 28 he has not got much time for manoeuvre, if he went to Spurs, a club in turmoil and it all went to pot then his momentum is lost, whereas at Saints he can build on it and keep it going, in International terms he has two tournaments coming up with the World Cup in 2022 being the culmination as he turns 30, he needs to be focused on that.
Of course Spurs fans would point out that he would want to go there to win things, well they do have a point, their two league cup wins is a couple more than us in the past 30 years, so I can't argue that point.
So if I were Danny Ings I would be avoiding Spurs like the plague at the moment, at least until they can get through several crisis's, both on the pitch and financially, they seem to be heading to a downturn in their fortunes that may take a few years to sort out and overcome.