It is being reported that Aston Villa have spent £30 million on taking Danny Ings from St Mary's to Villa Park in what has been the shock transfer deal so far in this window, but Saints are about to get a big boost to their transfer kitty.

Many had assumed that if the fee was £30 million then if Liverpool have a 20% sell on clause then the Merseyside club would net £6 million and Saints would be left with £24 million.

But according to the Liverpool Echo a media source that is closer to the club than most, the 20% sell on clause is on any profit that Saints make over and above the £20 million they paid for Ings 3 years ago.

That would man that Liverpool would get 20% of £10 million, so they will trouser £2 million with Saints getting the other £28 million.

Good news for Southampton fans and now it is about what the club does next.

The whisper is that the club is closing in on Adam Armstrong from Blackburn Rovers for a fee said to be between £15-20 million, that would still leave Saints with £8 million in the kitty to further strengthen the squad.

Many Saints fans are up in arms about the sale of Ings, but the first thing to remember is that it seems to have been outside of their control, they would rather have kept him or sold him to the highest bidder, but clearly the player himself was calling the shots and wanted to go to Villa rather than wait to see if someone bigger was coming in.

It seems that there were no takers in the top third of the League, perhaps they felt that about to turn 29 and with injury issues Ings was just not good business.

Perhaps in the cold light of day it might prove good business for Saints, Ings scored 12 goals last season, and although he was on fire in the first half of the season, his form was not so consistent in the second half, 7 goals in his first 8 Premier League games of the season was good going, but only 6 in his final 21 was not brilliant.

Whilst Ings had become a talisman in the second half of the season he had not become irreplaceable and perhaps like Rickie Lambert before him in 2014 it was time to take the money and run.

So now Saints fans have to give the board a chance to show they can spend the money well, too many have already started to condemn Gao and the board without giving him a chance, I am not standing up for him, not just yet but I will give him that chance first.

Photo: Action Images

pintsizedsaint added 21:22 - Aug 4 This is a huge and excellent bit of business! £30m for Ings is a no brainer.
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SanMarco added 21:26 - Aug 4 Yes - NOT the fault of the club this one. I always thought the idea of running down his contract would not end up happening - even though there were some strong arguments in favour of that. He clearly wanted to go and so let's say good riddance. I wonder what size the release clause is in his new contract? I never actively wish people ill but if Ings were to be injured, yet again, early in the season and miss the next 30 matches then I for one will smile...

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ElijahK added 21:53 - Aug 4 This both is and isn’t the boards fault. As I’m certainly more angry with Ings, than I am with the board, as he’s the one that lied, ditched us for a sidearms move (as anyone who thinks that they’re miles ahead clearly has forgotten that they’ll be loosing Grealish and they’ve certainly relied on him a lot over the last few seasons) which was clearly for the money. And anyone wishing him good luck and such has clearly ether forgotten that originally he was only gonna join a Champions league team, and if that didn’t happen might sign an extension on his contract, but it seems like most things it was just a load of BS! So much for loyalty to your boyhood club that got you back into the England squad! But at the same time, I don’t think the birds perfect for this, as yeah £30 mill is really decent for just one year and it may be the correct time to sell him, but if we had any ambition in the first place then would have have left? I mean if we don’t do well this season then and Gao doesn’t go then I’ll certainly be rethinking of whether I wanna keep going (as I know people are going on about how hard money is to get out of China, but it’s not Illegal/North Korea and West Brom’s owner is Chinese and he seems to be doing perfectly fine!)

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mattthelegend added 22:08 - Aug 4 £30 million, thank you very much 👍, just invest it wisely please, that’s all I ask.
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saintmark1976 added 22:12 - Aug 4 “Saints are about to get a big boost to their transfer kitty”. Nick, we have finished bottom of the net transfer league in window after window. Given the club’s current financial position, do you honestly think that we will invest all or for that matter a substantial part of the Ings fee on incoming players?
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JimmyMeliaPhD added 01:00 - Aug 5 I suppose it was inevitable, but I'd never have guessed Villa as the destination. What is he thinking? (Unless JWP is also going, and then it might make sense.) Right now the next step is to take RH seriously when he says that existing players have to up their game by 3 or 4 goals a season. To me that means dump Redmond before it's too late. He's a Championship player (he can cause panic there, but not so much in the EPL) and has shown that for several seasons now. If he starts in our first game, that'll be a sign that we're going nowhere. On the other hand, looking on the bright side, we dump Redmond and have a few quid in the bank to buy a new striker (and maybe a new goalie). Ings leaving isn't a disaster fort us but an opportunity--let's see what SFC makes of it.

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Colburn added 01:19 - Aug 5 The Ings saga has been a little disappointing. The truth appears to be that he just wanted out and a move to Villa was a sufficient offer, despite accepting no chance of CL football and perhaps little of Europa league. Seems like a strange decision to turn down the best ever st Mary's contract by a saints fan.. But if we do end up with 28 or even 24 million, we had to take it. The club have already stated that we can reinvest all transfer money in on new blood and we can strengthen twofold with the fee. The question is who are we keen on. I haven't seen much of Armstrong but one of Nketiah or Origi, if available, would boost our squad well and fit our scouting blueprint, the remainder on another no. 6.

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Crispinmumbles added 01:27 - Aug 5 Hero to zero.
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Peterx added 02:56 - Aug 5 I think Armstrong seems the right the player to go for, a proven goal scorer (albeit in the Championship) and young. I have not seen him play but if he has pace then even more so. Also we should keep Obafemi, he has pace and an eye for goal. To me Origi and Nketiah only at a good price, we dont want to break the bank for either.
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davidargyll added 07:06 - Aug 5 I always thought Danny’s contract dilly dallying was a negotiating tactic. Sad to see him go therefore but we cannot dispute the fact that we really got our money’s worth out of him, especially two seasons ago. And I firmly believe that we have sold a player who is conceivably past his best but is definitely injury prone. I think Villa are bonkers to pay that money and surely us being able to buy a younger player or two with potential must be the right way to go.

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SaintPaulVW added 07:44 - Aug 5 It's a shame when players that you felt had that extra link with the crowd and club turn out to be just like the rest. As a club, I can't see what extra Villa offer over Saints, so it must just be about the size of the contract. Perhaps if we had not been held back over the past few years by all the dead wood sat on other teams benches we might have been able to convince him to stay with a better team around him having a proven chance of pushing for Europe. However we are still in transition. In his 3 odd years here he was good but injured for two thirds and a true great for one of them. He certainly didn't seem to be enjoying playing for Saints in the last half of last season. 28 million net is a fair price for a player with one year left and now needs to be invested wisely. At least we don't have bottom feeders like Spurs dragging it out until the last day. I'm sorry to see Danny go but that's football. There were great Saints players before him and there will be great players after him. COYR!

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