It may have dragged on past the deadline, but Danny Ings has now officially completed his transfer from Liverpool to Southampton, the club that released him as a schoolboy many moons ago.
The striker, who maintained his popularity at Anfield despite barely featuring, has moved back to the Saints on an initial loan that will be made permanent come the end of the season.
Thankfully, both clubs submitted the relevant paperwork before the 5pm cut off, giving them another couple of hours to iron out the terms.
😇✍#SaintsFC is delighted to announce it has signed striker @IngsDanny on a season-long loan, ahead of a permanent move next summer: https://t.co/dgsZXZMBxZ
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) 9 August 2018
As such, Southampton are obligated to buy Ings for £20million (£18million as a guaranteed fee, plus £2million in various add-ons) this time next year.
Still only 26, there’s certainly plenty of good graft left in Ings if – and that’s a significant ‘if’ – he can just manage to stay fit, injury free, and work towards rediscovering the nifty form that landed him that big move to Anfield in the first place.