AT a time when English footballers are regularly criticised for a reluctance to move abroad and develop their game, Danny Ings should be applauded for considering a move to La Liga.

No major footballing country produces players as homely as England, and perhaps the incredible riches on offer in our domestic game play a big part in that.

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If more English players went abroad, learning about training, nutrition, recovery and tactics from fellow professionals and coaches across the continent and beyond, then they would become better players, and better people for it.

Now here comes the contradiction: Ings should stay in the Premier League.

Spending a couple of seasons in La Liga might well be a great idea, financially and for his career, but he has proved in recent weeks he should be aiming higher than Real Sociedad.

David Moyes is an admirer of the England Under-21 striker and there is no doubt the former Manchester United boss is keen to push the boat out to take him to San Sebastián, but La Real are 13th in Spain’s top division, only five points clear of the relegation zone, and they have won just three of Moyes’ 12 games in charge.

Ings is better than that.

And there are no guarantees he would hit the ground running in the Basque Country for a team that have scored just 24 goals in 23 games this season.

Sean Dyche was right to call him ‘sensational’ after a breathtaking display of pace, touch and imagination at Old Trafford last week, and it would be a surprise if at least a couple of Premier League clubs hadn’t taken an added interest in his performances after that display.

It appears almost certain he will depart Turf Moor in the summer, and it is a move he has earned.

He belongs at the top end of the Premier League now.

A move to a domestic rival is obviously the route Burnley are desperately hoping Ings takes, with compensation set at just £200,000 if he goes abroad, compared to a tribunal fee of millions if he remains on these shores.

Liverpool surely remain favourites to sign Ings in the summer, and it is a move that makes far more sense, for player and club.

Few managers are as adept at improving players on the training ground as Brendan Rodgers.

And Ings’ international ambitions, which will hopefully be fulfilled in March while he is still wearing a Burnley shirt, would be improved by featuring regularly for the Reds.

The lure of European football, something Sociedad wouldn’t be able to offer, could also be a big draw.

It is a difficult decision to make for Ings, and it’s a crucial juncture in the 22-year-old’s career, but for the good of his development, and for the good of Burnley, he should stay in the Premier League.