John Townley of Birmingham Live has given his verdict on former Aston Villa forward Danny Ings' time at Villa Park.

The Lowdown: Ings joins the Hammers

Villa sold Ings to fellow Premier League club West Ham United, with the Hammers paying £15m to Unai Emery's side for his services.

The Villans previously bought the English forward from Southampton in the summer of 2021 for £25m.

During his time at Villa Park, Ings scored 14 times and produced eight assists from 52 appearances in all competitions, but it seems as though Emery's arrival brought about the end of the striker's spell at the club.

The Lastest: Townley makes Ings transfer claim

Speaking on the Claret & Blue YouTube channel, Townley claimed that some Villa fans may look back and realise that the club had somewhat overspent on Ings.

He stated: "I think in hindsight, you look at it and think Danny Ings is fine to bring into the club, but for the money that we did, potentially that was a poor decision because we're always going to lose a lot of money on him.

"So we probably thought, well, if we can cut £10m pounds instead of 15 or 20, let's do it."

The Verdict: Trust the process

We believe that with Emery at the helm, Aston Villa are in very safe hands, as he's a top manager with a great CV.

Making £15m from a 30-year-old striker - albeit at a loss - is a good bit of business from the Villans, as they can use that money to reinvest it into another forward in the summer.

Ollie Watkins is someone that we tip to shine under Emery and the signs are already there, in our view.

Half of the 27-year-old's goal contributions have come since the Spaniard's arrival, with Watkins scoring in their last league match against Southampton.

Former striker Michael Owen has also spoken highly of the player in the past, labelling him as a 'top player' as quoted by Birmingham Live.

With the success that Emery's had in his managerial career, we believe he knows what he's doing when it comes to Ings' sale.

And with Watkins performing well under him, the forward could well develop into a lethal striker for Aston Villa.