The Southampton bomber stands in line with the scariest attackers in the Premier League.
The duel against Liverpool is certainly an emotional match for Danny Ings. 18 months after leaving Anfield, tomorrow the Southampton striker will return but with a classy status.
Ings will greet Liverpool loyalists with the rank of one of the most dangerous attackers in the English Premier League. Only Sergio Aguero and Jamie Vardy have more flashy records than the 27-year-old bomber this season. After a dark period of injury, many hours of training and undergoing recovery sessions this is a gift for Ings. English national team call is also no longer something that is impossible.
Ings certainly received a warm welcome from Liverpool supporters. He only recorded 25 appearances in three seasons on Merseyside with four goals but he was able to win the hearts of fans. He was able to make friends in the dressing room and with those who packed the stadium stands.
Ings can also hope for a warm hug from Jurgen Klopp. The Reds boss has never had the chance to see Ings's best game which only recorded three starters in two and a half years of his guidance.
It's not Ings's fault, it's also not Klopp's mistake. In the last match of Brendan Rodgers with Liverpool, Ings managed to break down the Everton goal at Goodison Park, but in the first training session with Klopp, or just a few days after making his senior national team debut against Lithuania, the world of Ings changed. He made a quick circular motion and felt pain in his knee. Severe injuries approached which forced him to be absent for seven months.
If we consider that the long period is already hard, then the next one is even more brutal. Five months after the comeback, Ings rose from the bench at Anfield in the League Cup three against Tottenham. This is the night Trent-Alexaander Arnold made his senior debut for the Reds.
Liverpool won 2-0, but moments before the fight broke out, Ings collided with Spurs defender Kevin Wimmer. An ordinary moment, but the impact was great because Ings injured his knee again. Gloomy period before the eyes.
Ings praised the Liverpool medical team led by Matt Konopinski, who now works with Steven Gerrard at Rangers. "They saved me," he told the Daily Mail this week.
Ings did not appear in competitive matches for 11 months, basically Ings had to learn again how to run. He visited John Moores University and a specialist in Manchester, he learned about the ins and outs of running while Konopinski and his team continued to provide support.
"Their hard work for me, without the details they gave - I could not possibly be in my current condition," Ings said.
Klopp asks Ings to stay at Liverpool. He made 14 appearances in the 2017/18 season, but was not included in the Champions League final squad in Kiev. With a heavy heart, he accepts the reality; to return to the top level Liverpool must be abandoned.
"It's bitter," I Ings. "But I realized I had to go and get up to be the player I wanted to be."
Southamton is the ideal choice. It's in Netley, only four miles from St Mary's. Southampton was the team he supported as a teenager. For young men who came from Hampshire, this was a dream come true.
A transfer with a loan status was initially agreed upon which added a permanent transfer obligation of £ 20 million. Last season Ings scored eight goals but the most important thing is he has proven to be fit and look good in the Premier League. Under the direction of Ralph Hasenhuttle, Ings has raised his level this season.
This weekend will be the 25th match for Ings, or equal to the record total appearance in the 2018/19 season.
Praise deserves praise to Ings who also specifically made many changes to his lifestyle with the help of Alex Parsons, his personal trainer who continued to accompany him during the summer.
Parsons is a former Ings teammate at Bournemouth. He also worked with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain while struggling to recover from a severe knee injury and the impact on Ings was very apparent. Its strength and flexibility have increased. Ings is now able to play in a row and is rarely absent in training sessions.
"I feel mentally in a better place," Ings said. "I complete the preseason with a better physical condition than before."
Indeed that is seen on the field. Ings was slow when he started the season, he only scored one goal in the first seven matches but after that he collected 15 goals in 20 matches in all competitions. This is the Saints striker who scored against Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea, Leicester and Arsenal followed by important goals against Norwich, Watford and Aston Villa. Just look at where Hasenhuttl's current position are, they are only three points behind Manchester United.
"Here I enjoy football again," Ings said on the official Southampton website.
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