Football Insider's latest report suggests Manchester City have stepped up their interest in Southampton striker Danny Ings.

What is the latest transfer news involving Ings?

City have been linked with Ings in recent weeks, as the club prepare for life without Sergio Aguero.

The Premier League leaders are now readying a "concrete" offer for the forward, and are set to make contact with Saints to try to negotiate a deal.

How much is Ings worth and when does his contract expire?

According to Transfermarkt, Ings is currently valued at £19.8m.

His contract at Southampton is set to run out next year. The South Coast club have offered him a new deal but Ings is yet to sign on the dotted line, leaving the door open for a potential move away this summer.

What are Ings' stats this season?

Ings found the net 22 times in the league last season, falling just one short of Jamie Vardy's total in the race for the Golden Boot.

He has not repeated those numbers this time around, but has still chipped in with eight top-flight goals, making him the leading scorer at Southampton once more.

The 28-year-old has outperformed both of City's out-and-out strikers Gabriel Jesus and Aguero, who have scored just eight league goals between them in 2020/21.

Nonetheless, it's worth remembering that all three strikers have missed significant portions of the season through injury. 

What has Clinton Morrison said about Ings?

Ings has been impressive since joining Southampton, and last August he received praise from former Crystal Palace forward Clinton Morrison.

As quoted by Hampshire Live, Morrison said on talkSPORT: "Yes, I would say Danny Ings is top-four quality, most definitely. The season he's had at Southampton, if you put him in one of the teams at the top four, he'd easily score goals like that.

"I used to play with a striker who used to play like Danny Ings - Robbie Keane.

"I look at the way Ings plays at the moment, his movement is first class and I used to say to Robbie Keane, how do you get in behind defenders when you're not rapid?

"His movement was first class and Danny Ings is like that."

Is Ings really the man to replace Aguero?

Over the past decade, Aguero has established himself as one of the finest strikers in the Premier League era. His goalscoring record speaks for itself.

Can Ings fill the void that Aguero will leave behind? Perhaps, but only in the short-term. The England international has scored 30 league goals since the start of the 2019/20 season after all.

However, he does turn 29 in July, and has previously suffered two serious knee injuries in his career. How long will his body hold up for?

Replacing Aguero with Ings feels like sticking a plaster on a gaping wound. It might work briefly, but is not a long-term solution.

City would be better served focusing on signing Erling Haaland, another forward they are reportedly interested in, and making him their main target for this summer.

Haaland is eight years Ings' junior, and is already a prolific goalscorer in the Bundesliga. He appears a more likely candidate to be able to come in and take over from Aguero as City's leading attacker in the years ahead.

Ings would be a decent option as a backup striker, but Pep Guardiola already has Jesus to call on in that capacity.