Rangers close to signing Ben Davies for £4million from Liverpool… with the Reds set to make a huge profit over the former Preston centre-back despite never playing for the first team
Rangers are close to signing Liverpool defender Ben Davies for £4m
Ibrox’s side wants 26-year-old to replace outgoing Calvin Bassey
Englishman Davies played 23 games on loan at Sheffield United last season
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Rangers are on the verge of signing defender Ben Davies from Liverpool for £4million.
The Ibrox club moved to secure the Englishman as a direct replacement for Calvin Bassey, and the Nigerian international arrived in Amsterdam to complete his £20 million transfer to Ajax.
Davies, 26, had plenty of options south of the border but seized the opportunity to move to Scotland after failing to break through at Anfield after joining the club last summer.
After coming through the system in Preston North End, he had leases in York, Tranmere, Southport, Newport County and Fleetwood.
Ben Davies looks set to move to Rangers after being left out of Liverpool’s pre-season plans
Davies played 23 games on loan at Sheffield United last season after a struggle at Anfield
He was linked to Celtic a year ago and moved to Liverpool for £500,000 but was unable to settle under Jurgen Klopp. Davies (pictured) played 23 games last season while on loan to Sheffield United, but has now agreed to a long-term contract with Rangers.
Obviously Middlesbrough, Blackburn, Stoke and Burnley were all in the running for his signature. Davies’ capture comes after Giovanni van Bronckhorst secured the services of John Souttar, Antonio Colak, Tom Lawrence, Malik Tillman and Rabbi Matondo.
The Dutchman’s team renewal has already seen Cedric Itten, Leon Balogun and Joe Aribo go out, with Bassey poised to join them in a deal that will break the existing record £12million fee for Nathan Patterson. Tillman, the 20-year-old midfielder on loan from Bayern Munich, has his sights set on a starring role at the World Cup at the end of this year.
Although born in Germany, he made his first appearance for the US earlier this year because of his American father.
He thinks his move to Rangers now could boost his chances of making it to Qatar in November.
Malik Tillman played for the youth of Germany, but now wants to be in the US World Cup squad
“The World Cup is coming up and I want to be there,” Tillman told RangersTV. “But I have to play more matches at club level, at the highest possible level, so that’s why I made the choice to go to the US. They wanted to get me involved right away. The German (option) might be in two years.’
While he has a reputation for being versatile, Tillman is expected to replace playmaker Aribo as a key creative influence in the Ibrox attack.
He added: ‘I usually play as a ten or an eight, so I’m creative, good at scoring and assisting on goals.
“Gio is a great coach. He was a great player, he played for Barcelona. I can learn a lot from him. I can’t wait to play for this huge club.”