Journalist John Townley has questioned the signing of Aston Villa striker Danny Ings as he continues to struggle to fit into the team alongside Ollie Watkins.
This season, the 30-year-old has started just three Premier League games for Steven Gerrard’s side out of a possible eight, while Watkins has started seven matches this term.
Evidently, Villa have struggled to get both men into the team as a duo on a regular basis and questions have been asked regarding the wisdom of having the pair in the same squad.
Ings arrived in August 2021 in a £25m transfer from Southampton, joining around 12 months after Watkins, who came from Brentford for an even larger £28m fee that could rise to £33m.
While discussing the players on the Claret & Blue Podcast, Townley praised both men, but slammed the amount of money spent on the former Saints striker when Villa already had one high-profile central-forward on their books.
He said: “I question why we’d spend so much money on a player that’s getting to the peak of his career when we have Ollie Watkins, who scores double figures, is an England international, is at a prime age. and he works his socks off every game and gives us everything that we need in terms of a modern centre-forward.
“I don’t know why we bought Ings, if I’m being totally honest. And I’m not saying he’s a poor player at all, I love him – I think he’s a brilliant player and at Southampton, he couldn’t stop scoring that one season.
“But ultimately, did we need him? I don’t think we did. Would we be in a different position to where we are now?”
Who do you prefer at Aston Villa?
Danny Ings
Ollie Watkins
In the two seasons before joining Villa, Ings managed double figures in the Premier League with Southampton – a feat he has failed to manage since.
Similarly, Watkins scored 14 league goals in his debut season, but managed just 11 last term when playing with the 30-year-old as an option in the squad alongside him. Meanwhile, in the current campaign, both players have only one league goal each.
On top of that, while playing together in a Villa shirt, they have directly combined for a total of just three goals in 31 matches, so it’s not as if they’ve been much of a duo.
With all that in mind, it seems as though neither man has truly been at their best since Ings’ arrival, so it’s hard not to think Aston Villa may have been better served spending that £25m elsewhere.