Ings fee set to be decided

Ings left Turf Moor at the end of his four-year contract last summer, and moved to Anfield under the Bosman ruling.

But as the forward was under 24 at the time, the Clarets are entitled to a fee,and after the clubs were unable to agree on a figure, it will be set by a tribunal, held by the Premier League and Professional Football Compensation Committee, which will meet today in Manchester.

Ings was signed from Bournemouth in the summer of 2011 for £1m, and the committee will take that into account, as well as his wages at Turf Moor, his development – going on to be capped at Under 21 level by England while a Burnley player, and being named the Championship player of the year, before scoring 11 goals last season in the Premier League.

Other offers Burnley received will also be considered.

Liverpool’s offer was believed to be £4m, but Burnley will submit that they turned down a bid worth £12m from Tottenham Hotspur.

Burnley chief executive Dave Baldwin recently revealed that the compensation figure for Ings could be “the biggest in history.”

Speaking at a fan forum at Turf Moor, Baldwin said that the fee is expected to exceed the record £6.5m Chelsea paid Manchester City for Daniel Sturridge in January 2010.

Baldwin explained the delay in the tribunal sitting: “It could have been any time during March or April, but availability of legal counsel for both parties has dictated that.

“They’re on other cases and they’re not just dealing with sports law.

“In terms of the timeline the reason it’s different to the ordinary is this tribunal claim will be the biggest in history.”

He added: “The key to this was that we bring the claim against Liverpool, therefore we had to prepare an extremely robust case.

“You’re talking a documentation bundle of probably in excess of 400 or 500 pages with witness statements, evidence, analytics about player performance, the statement as to why we make a judgement as to what we believe the player is worth, compared to what Liverpool want to offer.”

Ings’ progress at Anfield, and subsequent knee injury, will not be taken into consideration.

He scored three goals in eight appearances for the Reds, including a goal in the Merseyside derby against Everton at Goodison Park, before making his full England debut as a substitute in Lithuania in a Eur 2016 qualifier in October.

The following week, however, he suffered a cruciate knee injury, just after the arrival of new boss Jurgen Klopp.

Ings could yet return for Liverpool before the end of the campaign, though Klopp said: “Danny’s in a really good way after a serious injury. I don’t know yet if he will be able to play again this season.”