Why Ben Davies might be the biggest win yet for net-spend kings Liverpool
Karan Tejwani
- 18 Jul 2022 11:45 BST
- 3 min read
Ben Davies is set to leave Liverpool, with the Reds agreeing a £4 million fee with Scottish club Rangers for the transfer of the centre-back.
The defender joined the Reds in January 2021 from Preston North End for a fee of around £500,000 when they were going through an injury crisis and were in need of a defensive signing.
However, he hasn’t played a competitive minute for the club, and was loaned out to Championship side Sheffield United for the 2021-22 campaign, with Liverpool having Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip and Ibrahima Konate.
Now, though, the 26-year-old is set to leave permanently, following a positive season with the Blades as they reached the semi-final of the Championship play-off.
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The £4 million will include a guaranteed fee of £3 million, and there will be achievable add-ons of £1 million, which will be activated should Rangers reach the group stage of any UEFA competition in the next four years.
Given that Rangers reached the Europa League final last year and will be back competing in Europe this year, it’s unlikely they won’t be playing in the group stages in any European competition in the next four years.
Liverpool continue excellent sales record
The deal represents another successful sale for Liverpool, who will be making a profit on a player that never featured for them, showing once again why they are one of Europe’s best at selling players.
In recent years, they’ve sold fringe players for big profits, adding to their net spend value and bringing in money that could be used elsewhere while letting go of players that would hardly have played.
The best examples are arguably Jordan Ibe and Dominic Solanke, who went for £16 million and £19 million respectively, both to Bournemouth.
#Rangers are finalising a deal worth around £4m in total for Liverpool defender Ben Davies, as Calvin Bassey prepares to join Ajax. Davies set for his medical in the next few days, with both clubs very close to an agreement #lfc
— John Percy (@JPercyTelegraph) July 17, 2022
Other than that, Danny Ings and Danny Ward were sold for £20 million and £12.6 million to Southampton and Leicester City respectively, despite rarely featuring either due to injury or competition.
They also earned big on Fabio Borini (£9.6 million), and all the players mentioned above made a combined 103 league appearances for Liverpool in the time they were there.
Rhian Brewster was another, going for a mammoth £23.5 million fee to Sheffield United, having come up through the academy and failing to make an impact in the Liverpool first-team.
Davies’ sale to Rangers is another example of how good they are at selling players and making money off fringe players.
