Newcastle and West Ham are both keen on getting Liverpool striker Danny Ings on loan in January, with fellow Premier League sides Crystal Palace and Stoke City also interested in the 25-year-old.
The battle for the signature of the former Burnley hitman could prove to be the major difference between battling for survival and actually relegating for the 2 sides come May.
While Newcastle started their campaign brightly, 5 defeats and a draw in their last 6 games have seen them drop to within 5 points away from the relegation places.
The Hammers on the other hand have been in the drop zone since the last 5 matchdays, and will need to make rescue-signings by January to have a chance.
In Ings, both teams can land a striker hungry to prove himself and even dare to dream to make the England squad to Russia 2018 World Cup having been capped once.
43 goals in 130 matches for the Clarets earned him a £8million move to Anfield 2 summers ago, and while career-threatening injuries have since gotten the better of him, he displayed his sharpness in front of goal by grabbing 4 goals during Liverpool Under-23s’ 7-nil demolition of Bristol City last month.
Ings could be an upgrade on the struggling Andy Carroll at the London Stadium, and on the trio of Joseulu, Dwight Gayle and Aleksandar Mitrovic at Saint James’ Park.
Both teams can do with his goals to survive this term, and anyone willing to pay the larger chunk of his £60,000-a-week wages could have the best chance of landing him.
