Early life and career Ings was born in
Winchester, Hampshire and grew up in
Netley, Hampshire. As a child he attended Netley Abbey Primary School,
Hamble Community Sports College and
Brockenhurst College. Ings dreamed of playing for local club Southampton, but was rejected for being too small. After his release, Ings played for Itchen Tyro.
AFC Bournemouth He signed a two-year apprentice contract with
AFC Bournemouth in May 2008, having progressed through the club's Centre of Excellence while he was still at secondary school at Hamble Community Sports College. He had also previously had experience playing for the reserve team. His second season in the youth team was blighted by a long-term abdominal injury, which restricted his playing time. He remained with the youth team until the summer of 2010, when he signed a short-term three-month contract. He extended his contract in September 2010, until the end of the 2010–11 campaign. His debut for the Magpies came on 11 September 2010, scoring the equaliser in a 2–1 home defeat to
Ebbsfleet United. His second goal for Dorchester came on 24 September, scoring a penalty in a 4–1 win over
Mangotsfield United in the
FA Cup. On 6 October, his loan was extended for a further month. His next goal came in a 4–1 defeat to
Havant & Waterlooville as the Magpies were knocked out of the FA Cup. On 16 October, he scored the second in a 2–0 league win over
Lewes, after coming on as a late substitute for Giuseppe Sole. He got his fifth goal in a 2–1 away win over
Staines Town, scoring the opener. His first goal in November came in a 2–1 home defeat to
Maidenhead United, which ended an unbeaten run of six matches. On 12 November 2010, his loan was extended for a third time for an additional month. He scored the second in a 3–1 win over
Weston-super-Mare in the
FA Trophy to help them progress to the next round. On 23 November, his spell at Dorchester was cut short as he was recalled from his loan by Bournemouth due to an injury crisis at the club. On 30 November, he signed a new contract extension which lasted until 2012. He made his league debut and first start for Bournemouth on 28 December 2010, in a 2–0 away defeat to
Milton Keynes Dons in
League One, where he was substituted off in the first half for
Steve Fletcher. He started to become a first-team regular and scored his first professional goal against
Swindon Town on 1 February 2011, in a 3–2 win at
Dean Court. His form saw him rewarded with a new contract extension, lasting until 2013. On 1 April he added to his tally with a goal against
Peterborough United in a 3–3 draw. He went through a rich vein of goalscoring from in April, scoring four goals in three matches. He scored an overhead kick to equalise in the last minute against
Tranmere Rovers, however, the Cherries went on to lose the match 2–1. He also scored in a 2–0 away victory over
Notts County. He scored his first brace in a 2–2 draw with
Yeovil Town, including one penalty. His final goal for Bournemouth came in the last match of the season, in the play-off semi-final defeat to
Huddersfield Town, as Bournemouth were knocked out on penalties. In the summer of 2011, he was linked with reported moves away from Bournemouth with
Celtic,
Liverpool and
Newcastle United.
Burnley in 2012 On 15 August 2011, Ings signed for
Championship club
Burnley for an undisclosed fee believed to be in the region of £1 million, on a four-year contract. He rejoined former Bournemouth manager
Eddie Howe who had made the same move eight months earlier. He made his debut on 14 February 2012, in a 2–0 win over
Barnsley at
Turf Moor, where he came on as a late substitute for
Charlie Austin. His first start came a month later on 10 March 2012, in a 1–1 home draw with
Crystal Palace in the league. His first goal for Burnley came on 31 March, in a 5–1 win against
Portsmouth at
Fratton Park. His second goal came in the following match, where he scored the equaliser in a 3–1 defeat to
Birmingham City. He scored his third goal of the season in the final match of the season, a 30-yard strike in a 1–1 home draw with
Bristol City. He started the
2012–13 season as a first choice regular in pre-season following the sale of striker
Jay Rodriguez to Southampton. He suffered another serious knee injury in the final pre-season match, a 3–1 defeat to
Rochdale. He tore the knee cartilage in the opposite knee to the previous season which resulted in surgery, keeping him out of action for up to six months. Following the departure of top-scorer Charlie Austin to
Queens Park Rangers, Ings became the main striker ahead of the
2013–14 season. He put together a string of impressive performances in the Clarets' pre-season campaign and scored two goals in the opening three league matches as well as a goal in the
League Cup against
York City. For his continued good start to the season Ings was named the
Championship Player of the Month for October. In March 2014, Ings won
Championship Player of the Year at the
Football League Awards, ahead of the two other nominees: Leeds United striker
Ross McCormack and Leicester City midfielder
Danny Drinkwater. He ended the
2013–14 Championship season with 22 goals as Burnley finished second and gained promotion to the Premier League. On 19 August 2014, Ings made his Premier League debut in a 3–1 loss to
Chelsea at Turf Moor. His first Premier League goal came in a 1–3 defeat to
Everton on 26 October. On 22 November 2014, Ings scored both of Burnley's goals in a 2–1 win at
Stoke City for their first away win of the
Premier League season, his two goals coming in the space of two minutes. He made his 100th league appearance for Burnley in a 1–0 win against Southampton on 13 December. During January and February 2015, Ings scored five goals in six Premier League matches, helping the team to achieve draws with Newcastle United and
West Bromwich Albion, and defeat Queens Park Rangers. In May, he scored the winning goal in 1–0 victories over
Hull City and
Aston Villa respectively to end the season with 11 goals from 35 league appearances.
Liverpool in 2015 On 8 June 2015, Liverpool announced that they had agreed on personal terms with Ings, subject to a medical, as well as a developmental fee due to Burnley for players under 24, to be negotiated between two clubs or determined by a tribunal. Under tribunal the fee would be decided by the
Professional Football Compensation Committee. On 28 April 2016, the saga was finally settled. Liverpool would pay Burnley a record fee for a tribunal hearing: £6.5 million up front, with an extra £1.5 million in player performance-related bonuses. Burnley later gained an additional £3.6m due to a clause which saw them get 20% of the £18m Liverpool received from selling Ings to Southampton. Ings made his competitive debut on 29 August 2015 in a 3–0 defeat against
West Ham at Anfield. He made his European debut for the club on 17 September in the
UEFA Europa League group stage match against
Bordeaux, as a substitute for
Divock Origi in a 1–1 draw. Three days later, he replaced
Christian Benteke at half-time and within three minutes scored his first Liverpool goal in a 1–1 draw against
Norwich City. On 4 October 2015, he scored in a 1–1 draw against Everton in the
Merseyside derby. On 15 October 2015, in his first training session under new manager
Jürgen Klopp, Ings suffered an
anterior cruciate ligament injury in his left knee and was ruled out for the remainder of the season. However, Ings returned sooner than anticipated, making a substitute appearance in the final match of the season, a 1–1 draw away to West Bromwich Albion. Ings began the 2016–17 season playing in the reserves to help regain fitness. On 25 October 2016, Ings sustained damage to his right knee in a League Cup match against Tottenham Hotspur that would require another spell on the sidelines of up to 9 months. He successfully underwent surgery to repair the damage to his knee and began rehabilitation at
Melwood on 9 November. On 19 September 2017, Ings made his first appearance in 11 months since the injury when he came on as a second-half substitute in the 2–0 defeat to
Leicester City in the
EFL Cup. On 21 April 2018, he scored his first goal after his return from injury in a 2–2 draw with West Brom. This was his first goal since 2015 and also his first goal under Jürgen Klopp.
Southampton in 2018 After struggling for playing time in the 2017–18 season due to the form of attackers
Roberto Firmino,
Mohamed Salah, and
Sadio Mané, Ings requested a move away from Liverpool in the summer of 2018. Ings was a popular figure in the dressing room and Jurgen Klopp was reluctant to let him leave in spite of his limited appearances in the previous season. Ings joined Premier League club Southampton on 9 August 2018 on an initial loan until the end of the season, which would become permanent on 1 July 2019, for a reported fee of £18 million, plus a possible further £2 million based on appearances. On 12 August, he made his debut as a second-half substitute in a goalless draw with former club Burnley. He then scored on his first start five days later in a 2–1 defeat to Everton before netting the opening goal in Southampton's 2–0 win over Crystal Palace at the start of the following month, helping the club to their first win of the campaign. On 16 July 2020, Ings scored his 20th league goal of the
2019–20 season in a 1–1 draw with
Brighton & Hove Albion. He became the third player in Southampton history to reach the 20 goal mark in the Premier League following
Matt Le Tissier and
James Beattie. On 26 July, Ings converted a penalty in Southampton's 3–1 win over
Sheffield United on the final day of the
league season, taking his final tally for the season to 22 goals in the Premier League, and 25 in all competitions. He finished joint-second in the
Premier League Golden Boot race with
Arsenal striker
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, one goal behind
Jamie Vardy of
Leicester City. On 4 January 2021, Ings scored his 50th Premier League goal in a 1–0 win over his former club Liverpool. On 14 January, Southampton manager
Ralph Hasenhüttl announced that Ings had tested positive for
COVID-19. As a result, Ings missed Southampton's 2–0 Premier League defeat to Leicester. After recovering from COVID-19, Ings scored his first goal on 11 February 2021 in the FA Cup 5th round 2–0 win against
Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Aston Villa Ings signed a three-year contract with Premier League club
Aston Villa on 4 August 2021 for an undisclosed fee, reported by
BBC Sport to be £25 million. He scored a penalty on his debut on 14 August in a 3–2 away defeat to
Watford, and followed this a week later on 21 August with a goal scored from a
bicycle kick in a 2–0 home victory against Newcastle United which was also the first goal in front of a full capacity at
Villa Park since February 2020. That strike gave Ings Goal of the Month for August. The goal was also voted as Aston Villa's Goal of the Season at their annual End of Season awards.
West Ham United On 20 January 2023, Ings signed for fellow Premier League club
West Ham United for a fee of £12 million, which would rise to £15 million if West Ham avoided relegation at the end of the season. On 25 February, Ings scored his first goals for West Ham in a win against
Nottingham Forest, scoring the first two goals in a 4–0 victory. On 9 May 2025, West Ham announced that Ings would leave the club at the end of the
2024–25 season.
Sheffield United On 27 August 2025, Ings joined Championship club
Sheffield United on an initial one-year deal with the option to extend. ==International career==