Garth Crooks does not believe that Southampton striker Danny Ings is good enough to make the step up to a top-six club.
The 27-year-old has been in prolific form this season, with his 14 Premier League goals the joint-highest tally in the division when excluding penalties. Jamie Vardy leads the overall Golden Boot race by three.
Ings was linked to Tottenham by the Daily Star earlier this month as the club ponder a solution to Harry Kane’s long-term injury.
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Writing in his BBC Sport column, former Spurs forward Crooks believes that Ings would need to improve his finishing to get a big move.
He wrote: “The Southampton striker was a constant threat to Leicester; he could have scored four goals rather than ‘only’ the winner.
“Ings was effervescent throughout but if, as some are suggesting, he has the potential to move to a bigger club, he needs to improve his chances-to-goals ratio.”
Pffffffft.
As this graphic from Sky Sports shows, Ings has a big-chance conversion rate of 73.3%, the highest of English strikers who have scored five Premier League goals this season. So, better than Kane.
That is basically a ratio of three in four chances scored. Not one in four as Crooks suggested based on what was an off-day against Leicester.
An injury-free Ings would be an outstanding deputy to Kane but I cannot see him giving up regular football after so many years on the sidelines.
That’s assuming we’re a top six club.