- 1 Nov 2024
Who is Ben Davies? Liverpool set to solve injury crisis by signing Preston defender
Carlo Garganese
- Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
- 2 min read
Liverpool are set to finally solve their defensive injury crisis by signing Preston North End defender Ben Davies for a fee of around £2 million.
The Reds have been decimated in defence this season, with Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez ruled out with long-term injuries.
Jurgen Klopp has often been forced to play midfielders such as Fabinho and Jordan Henderson at centre-back, with the Englishman deployed in the role during Sunday’s win over West Ham.
However, The Athletic now report that Preston have accepted a £2m bid for Davies, whose contract expires at the end of the season. Sepp van den Berg will move the other way on loan.
Who is Ben Davies?
Davies graduated through the Preston academy, first signing for the club at the age of 11 and making his senior debut at 17.
After a succession of loan spells, he became a regular fixture of the Preston team in 2017/18.
The 25-year-old has since gone on to become a key player for the team.
Davies is a left-footed defender and has made 19 league appearances this season for Preston, who are currently eleventh in the Championship table.
Standing at 6ft 1in tall, he is strong in the air and has averaged 5.1 aerial challenges a game, winning 3.3. He is also averaging 7.8 duels in total a game, winning a respectable 5.2 of these.
A consistent performer, he has made no errors leading to goals in 2020/21 – and only one error leading to a chance.
He is not known for running with the ball, averaging only 0.3 dribbles per 90 minutes.
But he is a fair player and has received only three bookings in the last two seasons. He has never been red carded in his league career. He averages 0.5 fouls per 90 minutes.
Davies’ form for Preston has led to interest from a number of bigger clubs in the Premier League and Scotland.
He had been close to signing for Celtic, with manager Neil Lennon saying: “Hopefully we can get it tied up before the deadline. We’d like it to happen but again, I can’t say for sure whether it’s going to happen or not.”
Celtic are now set to miss out on Davies as he gets ready for the biggest move of his career.
