Danny Ing will likely prove to be one of the best-value signings of this summer’s transfer window. With his contract due to expire at the end of the season, one lucky club will end up with one of England’s brightest young goalscorers for peanuts.
But, with any summer move likely to quadruple his current salary, Burnley’s loss will be humanity’s gain: Ings will have just that bit more money to do good with.
You see, Danny Ings is quite possibly the nicest man in football. A low bar, you might argue, but the Burnley striker is exceeding it by a distance.
Ings hands his boots over to Burnley fan Joseph Skinner (Photo: @_melbourneer_)
A couple of years ago, at the culmination of the 2012-13 season, Ings ran fully 50 yards to hand his boots to a young Burnley supporter who is disabled. He accompanied the kind gesture with a tender kiss to Joseph Skinner’s forehead, who later described it as “the best day of my life.” An image of the moment, captured by a photographer in the ground, quickly went viral.
Last November, Ings - who’s still just 22 years of age - announced that he was establishing the Danny Ings Disability Sports Project. Funded entirely from his own pocket, the foundation will provide soccer coaching for children with disabilities and learning difficulties within the Burnley area, with Ings adamant he will do as much of the coaching as he can.
Ings with Harlee-Jane Proctor (Photo: @telegraphnews)
Then just last week Ings rolled out yet another act of selflessness, offering to help a young Burnley fan suffering from a rare genetic condition fulfill her bucket list. The England under-21 striker read about Harlee-Jane Proctor’s wish-list on Twitter, and promptly got in touch to tick off one of her goals: meeting Daniel William John Ings.
Not that he’s stopping there, you understand. Ings has promised to arrange for her to be a mascot at Turf Moor, as well as taking her to the zoo: "We're going to contact the zoo and see if we can go there for the afternoon and we're going to see some animals so I'm really looking forward to that. I've never been to a zoo so I'm looking forward to it just as much as she is.”
It’s hard not to conclude that Danny Ings is the nicest guy in professional football. And if philanthropy and the odd bit of goal-scoring here and there wasn’t enough to melt your hearts, just look at him dance:
What a guy.
