LAST Sunday it was Ajax. The week before that it was Newcastle and Southampton. Next week it could be anyone.

Not a weekend passes by at the moment without more speculation on the future of Danny Ings.

Out of contract in the summer, it’s open season as far as stories on the 22-year-old go. By the end of January he will have been linked with half the Premier League.

MORE TOP STORIES:

One thing we can say with a fairly big degree of confidence is that he won’t be leaving in the next transfer window.

Clarets co-chairman Mike Garlick said as much earlier this month, and it wouldn’t make footballing or financial sense to sell him.

Burnley’s best chance of staying in the Premier League is Danny Ings’ goals. To sell him next month, for a knock-down fee considering he will have six months to run on that four-year deal signed when he first joined the club, would be to all but admit you’ve given up on survival chances.

It’s pretty clear from the last six games that isn’t the case.

Secondly, no side is going to offer much in January for a player out of contract six months later, and even if he does opt to leave come July, the Clarets will get some form of compensation, because of Ings’ age.

The England Under 21 striker will still be at Turf Moor in February, of that we can be almost certain.

But what about next season?

The Clarets tied most of their key men down to long-term contracts last summer after promotion from the Championship, and they have been talking to Ings and his representatives for close to a year now.

That no deal has been agreed suggests the Southampton-born striker wants to keep his options open, and there is nothing wrong with that.

He had the best season of his life last term, but as with every player stepping up to the Premier League for the first time, there were always going to be uncertainties about his ability to cope.

Early on he looked hesitant but as Sean Dyche has said on several occasions since, the hamstring injury that took him out of the side for a month has helped him.

Since his return Ings has looked as sharp as he did last season. He has scored four goals and his return to top form has been crucial in Burnley’s recent good run.

If the Clarets are to survive for a second season in the top flight, then the performances and goals of Danny Ings are going to be crucial in achieving that.

If he can score a dozen Premier League goals and help keep Burnley up then he will have earned the club more than any transfer fee he could have brought in either in January or last summer.

If he does that, and then decides he wants to step up to a higher challenge, then he should leave with the thanks and blessing of everyone at Turf Moor.