Ings insists future is up in the air

But he insists he does not know where his future lies, beyond trying to help England Under 21s win Euro 2015 in the Czech Republic in June.

Ings finished his first Premier League season as Burnley’s top-scorer with 11 goals, but he has kicked his last ball for the Clarets, with his contract due to expire this summer.

He is widely expected to complete a move to Liverpool, but he is going to havea holiday first before linking up with Gareth Southgate’s squad: “My holiday’s the first thing on my mind.

“I’m looking forward to a bit of downtime and after that it’s going to be hard work again.

“It’s going to be a short summer for me this year, but I love football so I’d play it every day if I could.

“After that I’ll sit down with my agent.

“I’m not going to lie. I’ll sit down and discuss my future then. “At the moment it’s all up in the air. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

But leaving Turf Moor will be emotional, for a player who has had some real highs and lows over the four years since arriving as an 18-year-old for £1m from Bournemouth. He said: “It’s a sad time for me.

“Burnley Football Club helped me mature from a boy to a man and I can’t thank them everyone from the club enough, from the board to the staff at the training ground and the staff at the club.

“It’s been a fantastic journey, so of course it would be upsetting for it to come to an end.

“But that’s football, and it happens with every player.

“I thank everyone from the fans to the staff, everyone’s been fantastic.”

Ings picked up an award as Top Scorer at the club’s player of the year awards on Sunday night, but thanked his teammates for helping make his goalscoring exploits possible: “It is always a team game.

“I take a lot of pride on what I earn on a personal note, but for me it all comes down to how the team are doing, because the better the team are doing around you, the better you’re going to perform and last year especially was fantastic.

“Even this year, the performances have been unbelievable for a lot of players who hadn’t had the experience in the Premier League, including myself.

“We can be extremely proud of ourselves and how far this football club’s come in the last couple of years.”

He signed off with the winning goal at Aston Villa and Sunday, and added: “It was important that I went out there and enjoyed it because I think everyone knows that probably was my last performance in a Burnley shirt.

“It was great to get the winning goal and fantastic to get the win.

“I was an 18-year-old boy when I came here, now I’m 22 and I look like I’m 30!

“I’ve been working hard over the last four years to try to be the best I can be, and try to be the best I can be for Burnley Football Club.

“Everyone knows how much I love Burnley Football Club and that it will always be in my heart.”