Former Southampton boss Lawrie McMenemy supports the sale of Danny Ings to Aston Villa.

McMenemy wrote for the Daily Echo: "Like most supporters, I was quite surprised, at first, to see that Danny Ings had been transferred.

"Especially, as he was the club's top goalscorer last season, and a lot of his goals were the ones that secured the three points on the day.

"Although he did miss a few games through injury.

"So all of these things will have been taken into account when Aston Villa knocked on the door. I'm sure that Ralph and the board had meetings to talk about this situation.

"I would have thought, at first, that any manager would want a replacement lined up for his top goalscorer. But what Ralph has come out saying is, that the player, or probably his agent, had stipulated that under no circumstances would they be signing another contract.

"If, for instance, they had insisted he saw his contract out, he would probably have a player then who wasn't giving 100 per cent, as he had been refused the opportunity to move on. And probably wouldn't be bothered where the club finished, as he knew he was going out the door anyway.

"So bye, bye Mr Ings.

"But, the interest now is on who will be taking his place. Thirty-million pounds, if that was the figure, sounds an amazing amount."