Ben Davies: Liverpool agree deal to sell defender to Rangers for £4m | Transfer Centre News
Rangers have agreed a deal with Liverpool totalling £4m to sign Ben Davies.
The deal to take Davies, who played 21 Championship games on loan at Sheffield United last season, is worth more than £3m guaranteed, with the remainder of the fee made up of achievable add-ons, linked to matches played and team performance.
Blackburn and Middlesbrough were both in the race to sign the defender, while both Stoke and Burnley had made contact with Liverpool regarding a season-long loan.
Davies has not played a first-team game since joining Liverpool
Davies, 27, has not made a first-team appearance for Liverpool since he joined from Preston on a long-term contract in a £1.6m deal in February last year.
But Liverpool signed Davies for just £500,000 initially which they made back last season by way of the loan fee paid by Sheffield United.
Prior to his move to Liverpool, Davies made 145 appearances for Preston where he came through the academy.
Ben Davies made 145 appearances for Preston
Positive outcome for everyone
Sky Sports News reporter Vinny O’Connor:
“Rangers appear to have beaten off a lot of competition in the race to sign Liverpool centre-back Ben Davies. Hopefully, it all gets completed – a £4m fee and a move to a club like Rangers is a really positive outcome for Ben and the club.
“Blackburn made an impressive offer and pitch and Middlesbrough boss Chris Wilder has been after Ben since he was Sheffield United manager.
“That level of interest clearly illustrates Ben’s reputation in the game. He’s been a consummate professional while at Liverpool and was popular in the dressing room.
“Jurgen Klopp is disappointed it didn’t work out as had been hoped when he joined, but has remained engaged with Ben throughout.”
Bassey set to join Ajax
A deal to sign Davies comes as Calvin Bassey closes in on a move to Ajax.
Rangers and Ajax have agreed a £18.7m (€22m) fee for the defender, but with add-ons that could rise to £22.9m (€27m), with the deal also set to include a 10 per cent sell-on clause.
Bassey was in Amsterdam on Sunday to undergo a medical ahead of signing a four-year deal.
His departure will see Rangers pocket a club-record fee for a player that cost them a mere £230,000 from Leicester two years ago. Rangers sold academy graduate Nathan Patterson to Everton in a deal worth up to £16m in January.
Liverpool beat Palace in Singapore
Liverpool got their preparations for the new season up and running with a 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace in Singapore.
Jurgen Klopp’s side were well beaten by Manchester United in their first outing as they began their build-up to the new campaign on Tuesday, but they responded well to the 4-0 defeat in Bangkok as Jordan Henderson’s early strike sent them in with the lead at the break.
Liverpool, who saw Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain leave the game with a hamstring injury just before the break, made 11 changes at half-time, including the introductions of Mohamed Salah and new signing Darwin Nunez.
It did not take long for Salah to get in on the action as his deflected shot beat Vicente Guaita to seal what in the end was a comfortable victory against Premier League opposition.
Liverpool’s pre-season schedule…
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