Southampton Close in on £20m-Rated Liverpool Star as Mark Hughes Seeks Deadline Day Recruits

Southampton are preparing a late move for forgotten Liverpool striker Danny Ings, as Mark Hughes looks to put the finishing touches on his squad. 

Liverpool rate the forward at around £20m, despite the fact he is not currently a part of the clubs first team plans, while he has also been linked with the likes of Newcastle and Crystal Palace in recent weeks.

The Saints have reportedly been chasing a deal for Ings throughout the window with Liverpool standing strong on that valuation. As deadline day fast approaches it seems Southampton could be ready to match that figure to get the deal over the line.

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Ings moved to Anfield in 2015 with a tribunal fee of around £6.5m eventually agreed between Liverpool and his former club Burnley. He began the season under Brendan Rodgers appearing six times in the first eight games of the season.

The forward unfortunately suffered a season-ending injury just as Rodgers was been replaced with Jurgen Klopp and never got the chance to impress the new manager.

After another serious knee injury kept Ings out of action for the following season, he was afforded one last chance to impress last season after proving his fitness but failed to make an impact on the first team.

Making just 14 appearances in three years and scoring just three goals in that time has made him surplus to requirements this season.

Despite his dismal appearance record in recent years Hughes has been a fan of Ings for a while, having previously enquired about the forward in his time at Stoke.

Mirror journalist David Maddock tweeted that Hughes is confident of landing his man this time around, with a deal expected to be announced before Thursday’s deadline.

Southampton were one of the lowest scoring teams in the Premier League last year, nobody outside of the bottom six scored fewer goals. The Saints joint top scorers bagged just seven goals each, with one of those being Dusan Tadic who has left the club this for Ajax this summer.

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Whilst Charlie Austin - the other player to share the honour - has endured a spotty fitness record in his time on the south coast.

It means Hughes has been desperate to add some extra firepower to his side as they hope to avoid the threat of relegation that plagued the club throughout the previous campaign.