Ralph Hasenhuttl believes that Danny Ings will sign a new contract and stay at Southampton.

Hasenhuttl makes Ings claim

With just one year left on his contract at St Mary's at the end of this season (Transfermarkt), the 28-year-old has been heavily linked with a move away, with Manchester City said to have been in pursuit (Sky Sports).

However, speaking to Sky Sports (via Hampshire Live), Hasenhuttl believes that Ings will remain on the south coast. He said:

"I think Danny, especially, will stay with us.

"He knows that with all of his injuries that he has had, he has a very good spot to perform and come back - and I think this is important for a player.

"It's a risk to go into a final year of a contract with the risk of getting another injury, then things can be gone."

Wishful thinking

Unfortunately, Hasenhuttl may be a little over-confident here. Ings has enjoyed a fantastic spell with the Saints, scoring 44 goals in 96 matches in all competitions. However, he moved to Southampton to retrieve his form after an injury-ridden spell at Liverpool, and he is said to be eager to play in the Champions League once more (The Telegraph).

At 28 years of age, he still has time to achieve that goal, but Southampton are unlikely to ever be in such a position. As it stands, they are 15th in the Premier League table and are not yet 100% safe even if it would take a huge collapse for them to be relegated.

If £19.8m-valued Ings (Transfermarkt) wants to play at the highest level, he will have to depart Southampton, and there is very little Hasenhuttl can do about that in the long run.

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