West Ham United are edging closer to completing a £12million move for Aston Villa striker Danny Ings.
After having a bid accepted by their Premier League rivals for the 30-year-old, Ings is set to undergo a medical on Thursday afternoon/evening in a move that could rise as high as £15million after add-ons.
The move would make Ings the Hammers’ first senior signing this month, having officially completed a move for young Brazilian centre-back Luizao from Sao Paulo earlier in the window.
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Ings is currently Villa’s No.9, a number he has donned since the start of this season, having also worn it for three years at former club Southampton. However, he is unlikely to be given that shirt should his move go through, with current striker Michail Antonio currently wearing it.
In his first season at Villa, he wore the No.20, but West Ham winger Jarrod Bowen currently occupies that number, one he wore at his former club Hull City.
Prior to playing for Southampton, Ings had three years at Liverpool wearing the No.28 shirt. Again, that shirt is currently not available, with midfielder Tomas Soucek currently occupying that one.
Burnley was the club where Ings spent over three years before his 2015 switch to Liverpool. He started off as their No.14, a number currently taken by ex-Clarets winger Maxwel Cornet. Ings then moved to the No.10 shirt, again, occupied by midfielder Manuel Lanzini.
The only shirt of Ings’ past still available to him is the No.34. When starting off his career breaking through Bournemouth’s academy, Ings wore 34, a shirt he could reclaim at the London Stadium.
If he wants to go to a lower number, the lowest he could go is No.16, with every number between 1 and 15 currently either occupied or retired. After 19, the only vacant available numbers before 34 are 23, 25, 26, 29, 30 and 31.
Here is a look at West Ham’s current shirt numbers and what would be available to Ings, should his move go through.
1 – Lukasz Fabianski
2 – Ben Johnson
3 – Aaron Cresswell
4 – Kurt Zouma
5 – Vladimir Coufal
6 – Retired in honour of Bobby Moore
7 – Gianluca Scamacca
8 – Pablo Fornals
9 – Michail Antonio
10 – Manuel Lanzini
11 – Lucas Paqueta
12 – Flynn Downes
13 – Alphonse Areola
14 – Maxwel Cornet
15 – Craig Dawson
16 – Vacant
17 – Vacant
18 – Vacant
19 – Vacant
20 – Jarrod Bowen
21 – Angelo Ogbonna
22 – Said Benrahma
23 – Vacant
24 – Thilo Kehrer
25 – Vacant
26 – Vacant
27 – Nayef Aguerd
28 – Tomas Soucek
29 – Vacant
30 – Vacant
31 – Vacant
32 – Conor Coventry
33 – Emerson
34 – Vacant
35 – Darren Randolph
36 – Vacant
37 – Vacant
38 – Retired in honour of Dylan Tombides
39 – Vacant
40 – Armstrong Okoflex
41 – Declan Rice
42 – Vacant
43 – Will Greenidge
44 – Junior Robinson
45 – Vacant
46 – Pierre Ekwah
47 – Krisztian Hegyi
48 – Jamal Baptiste
49 – Vacant
50 – Harrison Ashby
51 – Daniel Chesters
52 – Lennon Peake
53 – Levi Laing
54 – Patrick Kelly
55-99 Taken up by youth players or vacant
Players without shirt numbers/out on loan: Nikola Vlasic, Arthur Masuaku, Luizao, Nathan Trott, Joseph Anang, Manny Longelo, Mipo Odubeko, Jacob Knightbridge, Thierry Nevers
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