West Ham have completed the £15m signing of Aston Villa striker Danny Ings; the Hammers will pay an initial £12m with £3m to be paid in add-ons; West Ham are also working on a bid to sign Lorient forward Terem Moffi
Wednesday 15 February 2023 16:24, UK
West Ham have completed the £15m signing of striker Danny Ings from Aston Villa.
The England international striker joins the Hammers on a two-and-a-half year deal, taking him up to shortly before his 33rd birthday.
West Ham say Ings will be eligible to feature in their crunch relegation six-pointer with Everton at the London Stadium on Saturday, with his paperwork submitted before the Premier League's midday deadline on Friday.
"I'm really pleased to add Danny to the squad," manager David Moyes told the club's website. "He is a proven Premier League goalscorer and will add great competition for places in the attacking third.
"We're looking forward to integrating him into the group, as we go into a busy period in our season."
Ings has netted 68 times across 188 Premier League appearances prior to his move to East London, and leaves Aston Villa as their top league scorer this season with six goals in 18 games.
Sky Sports' Laura Hunter:
"Danny is a very good player in the first XI," Unai Emery said after introducing Ings from the bench to rescue a point against Wolves in early January. "I'm really happy with him," he added.
Given that admission, a mere two weeks ago, it feels strange to be talking about the striker becoming West Ham's newest signing - clearly viewed as expendable by the Villa boss, despite his recent acclamation.
Ings, like Villa, has a tendency to blow hot and cold. Given his age (he is now 30) and injury record, perhaps the smart move is to cash in before allowing his contract to run down, but Villa are hardly flush in front of goal this term.
They've scored a total of 22 league goals - less than both Leeds and Leicester - with Ings netting six of those. That's more than any other Villa player. Leon Bailey is closest with four.
Maybe Ings isn't an archetypal Emery attacker. His pace has waned. He isn't as dynamic or energetic as Ollie Watkins, for example, but he's effective. He scores goals. His movement is intelligent and his finishing is precise. He remains a good option, albeit one whose game time needs to respect his extensive injury history.
Let us also remember that Villa paid £30m to Southampton to rush Ings through the door only 17 months ago. Swallowing that loss to pave the way for untested talent doesn't always pay dividends. Although the master plan - pairing Ings with Watkins up top - hasn't quite come to fruition, letting a proven goalscorer join a direct rival at a cut price seems imprudent.
Goals are the hardest currency to come by in Premier League circles and Ings gives you those. The former Liverpool man may well deliver a timely reminder of exactly what Villa will be missing when the two sides meet in mid-March.
Sky Sports News has been told West Ham may consider offers for striker Michail Antonio, if they sign two forwards in this window.
With Ings having completed his move to the London Stadium, a move for Lorient's Terem Moffi has also not been ruled out.
Lorient would accept West Ham's offer - worth £25m - but the player is undecided about the move, according to one source.
There is Premier League interest in Antonio.
Earlier this week, when asked about a potential departure, Antonio said: "My agent deals with all that and if something happens, something happens. Right now, I'm at West Ham and I have to pay attention to that.
"If something changes, it changes. We've got a striker in and are maybe looking at other strikers because, right now, we're not doing it".
Antonio has publicly criticised the club's performances this week, telling the Footballers' Football Podcast their more expansive style of play this season "wasn't working".
He said: "Teams are countering us the way we would have countered them before. It's a transition. We're trying to transition to become a bigger team and, I've got to be honest, it ain't working."
Speaking at his press conference ahead of West Ham's crucial match against fellow Premier League strugglers Everton, Ings' new manager Moyes explained that the 30-year-old is "what West Ham need".
"We need someone who knows the league," said Moyes.
"We've had a look at a few players to strengthen, but I wanted to bring someone in who wasn't a risk in terms of knowing the league.
"Danny is as good as it gets."
On how the signing from the other claret and blues in the league, Aston Villa, would impact other forwards at the club, Moyes said, "we need to score more goals, that's the obvious thing."
"We've brought in Danny Ings and we are working hard to get those better results.
"He adds to what we need. Gianluca [Scamacca] has a bit of a knee injury which will keep him out for a short time, so at the moment I only have Micky [Antonio] and Danny as out and out forwards, Jarrod [Bowen] who can fill in as well.
"Hopefully he will settle in well as we need that competition."
Who will be on the move this winter? The January transfer window opened on Sunday January 1, 2023 and closes at 11pm in England and midnight in Scotland on Tuesday January 31, 2023.
Keep up to date with all the latest transfer news and rumours in our dedicated Transfer Centre blog on Sky Sports' digital platforms. You can also catch up with the ins, outs and analysis on Sky Sports News.
