Danny Ings to Aston Villa came as a bit of a shock to everyone after coming out of nowhere, but Express and Star journalist Luke Hatfield believes that the striker would have been on Villa’s target list this summer.

Ings joined Villa for an undisclosed fee, signing a three-year contract at Villa Park. The 29-year-old scored 13 goals for Southampton last season which took his tally to 46 goals in 100 matches for the Saints.

The striker has joined Leon Bailey, Emi Buendia, Ashley Young and Axel Tuanzebe at Villa Park this summer, with Hatfield reckoning that Ings was on Villa’s radar despite the move coming as a bit of a shock, as he was linked elsewhere throughout the summer.

“Danny Ings will have been on their target list I think, when you look back at the list of targets they probably had, particularly someone up front, him and Tammy Abraham probably would have been up there,” he told Football Fancast.

Ings has a decent goalscoring record throughout his career as he has scored 106 goals, and Villa will be hoping that he has a great season in front of goal this season and helps Villa improve on last season’s 11th-placed Premier League finish.