So Celtic are interested in signing Ben Davies on a season long loan from Liverpool. The Anfield club nipped in with a late £2m bid to beat Celtic to the signature of the former Preston North End defender who was set to join Celtic on a pre-contract until Jurgen Klopp made his eleventh hour approach to bring in central defensive cover amid an ongoing injury crisis.
Despite that injury crisis Davies has not given a single minute of match time during his financially lucrative start at the former Premier League Champions and with the likes of former Celt Virgil Van Dijk close to returning to the side, it seems unlikely that Davies is going to feature for Liverpool this season either.
Stephen McGowan in Daily Mail reports this morning that Celtic are interested in a season long loan deal for the player, amid competition but points out that Liverpool’s preference would be a sale to secure a hefty profit on the January transaction with Preston North End that frustrated Celtic.
After the drawbacks of going down the loan route last season for what looked like great additions on paper – Shane Duffy, Diego Laxalt and Jonjoe Kenny all looked tremendous additions to the squad on paper – but all proved to be expensive failures with many believing the over-reliance on loan deals upset the squad equilibrium and contributed to dressing room disharmony amid reports of how much these loan players were being paid.
So if Celtic want Davies – a player they were close to bringing in in January on a pre-season deal – then surely allowing Liverpool a few million profit on their crafty piece of business is the way to go?
Davies is only 25 and will be well aware that his chances of playing at Liverpool are slim to put it mildly. Liverpool spent £2m on the January transfer and have probably paid out the same again in wages so a £5m bid gives them their profit. If Ben Davies if wanted by Ange Postecoglou and if the player wants to come to Celtic surely that makes sense?
And if Liverpool are looking at selling rather than a loan deal then what’s to stop any one of a number of English sides (Norwich City for example) deciding to allocate their transfer budget on Davies rather than on for example Kris Ajer?
🏴 | Ben Davies
Celtic are looking to bring Liverpool centre-back Ben Davies to the club on a season long loan spell.
The 25 year old was set to join the club on a pre-contract in January before Liverpool pipped Celtic to his signature at the last minute.
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