Jurgen Klopp wanted to keep Danny Ings at Liverpool when he left in 2018

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Southampton striker Danny Ings will return to Anfield this weekend looking to continue his rampant form this season.

The 27-year-old has lifted the lid on his departure from Liverpool ahead of going back to Merseyside with the Saints, telling the Daily Mail, who report Jurgen Klopp wanted him to stay in 2018.

He said: “The best way to say it is that they didn’t push me out of the door. It was in my court to leave. What an experience it was to be among all that, so to have it taken away from me hurt. It really hurt.

“I just knew I had to go and make a name for myself and be the player I wanted to be. I knew when I left Liverpool that I had another shot at it to make a name for myself.”

TBR’s View – Ings deserves praise for stepping downwards for regular football

Perhaps Ings looks at the way Divock Origi has gone down in Liverpool folklore with a touch of envy.

In another world, if Ings had stayed when Klopp wanted to extend his deal in 2018, perhaps he would have been Liverpool’s backup striker during the whirlwind 2018/19 season.

Origi was the supersub, the stand-in who stepped up with some fantastic goals and Ings has shown this season he has the quality to perform such a role.

Given his injury record, he could perhaps have been tempted by the occasional game at an elite club, but he chose to step down the Premier League in search of regular gametime.

That gamble has paid off spectacularly and it would be a huge surprise if he wasn’t in the England squad for the friendlies in March.