ORIOL Romeu revealed the Saints squad had been caught off guard by Danny Ings's sudden departure, only discovering he had left the club hours after it had been announced.

Aston Villa confirmed the arrival of Ings on Wednesday evening, little over 20 minutes before Saints were set to kick-off their pre-season friendly against Levante at St Mary's.

News quickly filtered through the stands of the striker's £30million move, but Romeu insists the players knew nothing about the transfer until after their contest with the La Liga outfit, which Saints won 1-0 thanks to a Kyle Walker-Peters goal.

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Speaking to the Daily Echo shortly after full-time against Levante, Romeu said: "I just found out after the game. As soon as we walked in I was talking with some of the lads and they said about Danny. We didn’t know anything actually, we just found out now.

"He’s been great for us. He’s done a great job and we just have to wish him all the best. It’s his decision. He’s been a great guy, respected everyone and always worked for the team and gave everything every time he played.

"Hopefully he can do well, apart from against us!"

Asked how big a disruption Ings's exit would be, with under two weeks to go under the Premier League season begins for Saints at Everton, Romeu added: "I think we have been quite strong in that way. Of course Danny has been crucial, he’s scored consistently over 10 goals a season.

"That is big boots to fill. It won’t be easy, but I assume the club must also be looking for options to replace him and if not, probably the guys that are here should step up and do the job. We will see."

Discussing how finding a goalscorer could be the most difficult to do in the transfer market, Romeu added: "And the most expensive, probably!

"In the end, the strikers will score goals if you give them the chances. If we do well, if we defend like we want to do and if we play good football, our strikers are going to be happy.

"I agree that having a striker is critical up front and it does give you a lot of things, because Danny has done it in the past. But we will also try to do our best to make sure that the ones that are here can get those numbers."