Source: Bournemouth_Echo
Cherries: Mitchell warns clubs over Ings
Cherries chairman Eddie Mitchell has sounded out a defiant message to would-be suitors of Danny Ings, telling them: He'll cost you at least £1m.[LNB] Mitchell's comments come after reports in south London suggested Cherries had told Crystal Palace they could have Ings for a knockdown £500,000.[LNB] An article published yesterday in the South London Press claimed Cherries had privately indicated they would be ready to sell the sought-after 18-year-old.[LNB] Cherries have already rejected a £200,000 bid from the Eagles, while the club has also rebuffed a £400,000 offer from Premier League Fulham.[LNB] Ings is being tracked by a host of top-flight clubs with cash-rich Manchester City understood to have sent a representative to monitor him during the EC Group Cup at the weekend.[LNB] Mitchell, asked by the Daily Echo whether there was any substance to the report in the South London Press, replied: It is a complete and utter lie because Danny Ings isn't going anywhere for £500,000.[LNB] He is going to be AFC Bournemouth's first £1m player and that is a definite. We have told that to Fulham and will tell anybody else the same.[LNB] He is the club's biggest asset and just needs to start firing in a few goals during the season and they will be flocking for him.[LNB] I keep reading in the papers about this player going for £2m and that player going for £3m. Danny is going to be our first £1m-plus player.[LNB] Mitchell said he had had no dialogue with Crystal Palace since turning down their initial offer last month. He also said there had been no subsequent bids for Ings.[LNB] Cherries recently opened talks with Ings over the possibility of him signing an improved contract, one that would give him parity with the top earners in Lee Bradbury's squad.[LNB] Ings, who celebrates his 19th birthday on Saturday, is currently under contract to the club until 2013, having penned no fewer than four new deals since turning pro just a year ago.[LNB] Mitchell added: We are not in any hurry to sell him and want him to develop with us. The two offers we have received so far have been miles off the mark.[LNB] We want him to stay for at least another year beyond his current contract and have made an approach to him along those lines. We are prepared to make him one of our top earners in an attempt to keep him.[LNB]
