Liverpool told to pay Burnley £6.5m for Danny Ings

Liverpool have been ordered to pay English second-tier club Burnley £6.5 million ($9.5 million, 8.4 million euros) for striker Danny Ings following a tribunal on Thursday.

Ings joined Liverpool last year after his Burnley contract expired, but because he was aged under 23 at the time of the move, Burnley, who rejected an offer of £6 million, were entitled to compensation.

The Professional Football Compensation Committee (PFCC) has ordered Liverpool to pay an initial £6.5 million, plus a further £1.5 million in add-ons, which is a record for a fee set by a tribunal in England.

“Liverpool Football Club would like to thank the PFCC panel for their time and diligence in deciding this matter,” Liverpool said in a statement.

“We believe the process was conducted fairly and we respect the outcome. We are pleased for Danny Ings, in particular, that this chapter is now complete and he can look forward to a long and successful career at Liverpool.”

Ings, capped once by England, played eight matches for Liverpool, scoring three goals, before sustaining a cruciate knee ligament injury in October that has kept the 23-year-old out for the entire season.

He has therefore not played for Liverpool under manager Jurgen Klopp, who succeeded the sacked Brendan Rodgers in October, but is expected to resume training in the coming days.

Burnley chief executive David Baldwin said: “We acknowledge and accept the tribunal’s decision. We feel we must reiterate this is an unprecedented record payment for training compensation and not a transfer fee.

“As the initial fee decided by the committee represents almost double the previous record for a tribunal, this fully justifies our decision to press ahead with what we felt was a fair reflection of the part Burnley Football Club played in Danny’s development.”