The Danny Ings transfer saga drags on and like all football transfers these days, it all comes down to money ! West Ham seem keen to get him off their books, but with no club willing to match his wages, it is stalemate at the moment.
West Ham media outlets westhamzone have put the Danny Ings transfer saga into perspective.
They say that Southampton are having to sit back and distance themselves from the situation as player and club haggle.
In simple terms the situation is this, the Hammers seem to be keen to offload Ings, they want to get his £120,000 a week wages off the books to free up space in the coffers for new signings.
But they face an uphill battle to do this though, Ings is understandably not keen to take a drop in salary, so he is saying the right things, talking of staying and fighting for his place in the team.
Last season saw him start just 3 Premier League games plus another 17 cameo roles as a sub, for those who talk of him being injury prone, the only injury he was in danger of getting last term was splinters in his arse , as he was an unused sub for the other 18 Premier League games.
So Ings was fit for the entire season, but played just 390 minutes of League football which produced just one goal, it sounds poor, but as a goals per minute ratio it's not as bad as it looks.
Obviously West Ham do not see this as good value for money and seemingly want to get rid of him.
So the starting point for West Ham would be selling him for a fee, but obviously this is not going to be easy as not only will he not want to give up his current contract, but very few clubs will be anywhere near willing to match that fee given his recent form.
So we have stalemate, the Hammers are reported to have made an offer to make some sort of payment to Ings to compensate for a drop in income if he goes, but it appears that is not enough and he is holding out for more.
So West Ham have to come up with a better compensation package or show Ings that they are prepared to let him sit out the season and pay the price.
It is suggested in some quarters that the Hammers should make a signing or two up front and show Ings that they are willing to play hard ball and really do mean he has no future at the club.
"Every player wants to play football and while some are more than happy to sit on a good contract, Ings isn’t at that stage of his career now. Playing week in and week out will likely be more important to him than money."
That is the summary from westhamzone who are probably being a bit optimistic as to the priorities of some footballers these days.
The hope for both West Ham and Southampton is that the situation can be brought to a quick solution that suits all parties, but don't hold your breath.