Jürgen Klopp Has Plans For Danny Ings

The Liverpool striker will have to make the most of his limited minutes on the pitch if he’s to rise through the squad ranks.

If you looked close enough towards the end of the Liverpool match against Swansea City you might have been gifted that rarest of sightings: a glimpse of Danny Ings in his natural habitat in front of the opposing team’s goal.

Ings has had a rough couple of seasons under Jürgen Klopp. The striker had just welcomed his new manager to Melwood back in 2015 before promptly going out onto the training pitch and tearing his ACL.

The road to recover for the ex-Burnley striker has been long and full of motivational videos but with Ings now fit enough for selection, are we likely to see more of him on the pitch during the second half of the season?

“He’s in really good shape to be honest,” said Jürgen Klopp during today’s pre-West Bromwich Albion presser.

“He’s doing really well and the fact that we don’t give him a loan or something else shows already what our plans are for him.

“It was a very difficult time, I can imagine, for Danny. The first day when I came in he got an injury. And since then it’s been ups and downs. But meanwhile, physically, he’s completely there.

“I can’t remember the last session that Danny was not involved in. There are different reasons he didn’t play that often but he’s still a young boy with still a lot of good years to come.”

25-years-old isn’t exactly young for a striker but taking into account Danny’s Roberto Firmino levels of energy and endurance he does probably have plenty more years to offer. But game time is important and Klopp will have to manage Ings’ trajectory properly if he hopes to get anything out of him in the future. Do you keep him in the squad to train with the team and slot him in sporadically from now until May? Or could Ings benefit from a loan to a club where he would play regulary?

“Maybe if Danny could go somewhere and start the next 20 games,” pondered Klopp. “Would it be perfect for him, I’m not sure. But we cannot forget our needs.”

Translation: keep your binoculars handy for the next rare sighting.

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com