Crystal Palace shouldn’t consider spending £20 million on Liverpool’s Danny Ings

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Liverpool’s Danny Ings appears to be clear in his desire to move away from Merseyside this summer after he struggled to find his way back into an overpopulated attack following two years on the sidelines.

Now, The Telegraph claim that the striker could be on his way to Crystal Palace as Roy Hodgson and his club are keen to take him to south London and are willing to spend £20 million to complete a deal to do that.

Faced with a potential exit of Wilfried Zaha and with Christian Benteke yet to show the kind of form that many expect of him, it is clear that the Eagles do need goals in 2018/19, with Ings potentially the man to do that as he has shown before early on in his time at Anfield and with Burnley before that.

“It was fantastic but he deserves it, really. Danny is in a fantastic shape. It always takes time. Now, after two-and-a-half years, he can play in the Champions League. It’s a wonderful story, it’s really deserved. He enjoyed it a lot, worked hard, was quick and adapted immediately to the game, so it was a really nice story.”

Klopp was full of praise for Ings when he returned to action in February.

The once England international is a clinical finisher with pace to burn and has clearly done enough to impress Jurgen Klopp, yet £20 million still seems an excessive price to pay.

£20 million is the kind of money that a club the size of Palace should be spending on a player to be their key centre forward, yet since October 2015, he has made only three starts.

Palace cannot afford to spend £20 million on a striker who has unknown fitness levels and many are not yet sure if he has has retained his pace through those injuries, let alone other aspects of his game which will likely be rusty and take some time to get back to his best.

There can be little doubt that Ings requires regular first team football to establish himself and prove that he’s still got what it takes, but at £20 million it is too high a price to pay for Crystal Palace for such a substantial gamble.