Leicester City have made their move for free agent Danny Ings, a striker whose Premier League pedigree is as well known as his spellbinding knack for...
Leicester City have made their move for free agent Danny Ings, a striker whose Premier League pedigree is as well known as his spellbinding knack for the spectacular. The 33 year old veteran, recently released by Sheffield United after their top flight survival bid fell short, is set to join Enzo Maresca's ranks on a Bosman deal. For a Foxes side still smarting from the bitter taste of relegation, this is a signing that speaks to both ambition and necessity.The logic here is compelling. Ings might not be the fleet footed poacher of his Southampton days, but his intelligence in the final third remains razor sharp. At this stage of his career, he thrives on service, on flick ons, on the kind of clever movement that pulls defenders out of shape. Leicester are building a side that will likely dominate possession in the Championship, and Ings offers that rare mix of clinical finishing and the nous to drop deep and link play. He is the sort of player who can turn half a yard of space into a goal from nowhere, exactly the kind of ruthlessness required to break down a packed low block.There is, of course, a lingering question mark over his injury record. Ings has spent far too much time in the treatment room over the years, and the Championship is a relentless, bruising war of attrition. But on a free transfer, with wages that will reflect his age, the risk is manageable. Leicester need leadership, they need a foil for the younger legs around him, and they need someone who has been in the mixer for a promotion scrap before. Ings brings all of that.What this deal really signals is that the club is not messing about. They have seen the trap that so many fallen giants have fallen into, the slow drift into mediocrity. By adding a proven Premier League finisher at the peak of his experience, they are telling the rest of the division that they intend to walk straight back through the door. A cynic might say that a 33 year old on a free is a short term fix. But sometimes short term is exactly what the doctor ordered when you are desperate to taste top flight football again.For Ings himself, this is a chance to be the main man once more. No longer a bit part player on loan or a veteran making up the numbers. At the King Power Stadium he can write one more compelling chapter, the veteran striker who dragged a sleeping giant back to where they belong. If he stays fit, and that is a big if, Leicester have just landed one of the most intelligent forwards in the English game. Now it is down to the manager to build a system that gets the best out of him.
