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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Paul Gorst

Liverpool to net huge profit as Julian Ward strikes deal with Rangers for defender

Liverpool have agreed a £4m fee with Rangers for defender Ben Davies.

The Reds centre-back was the subject of strong interest from a host of clubs this summer after he spent last season on loan with Sheffield United in the Championship.

Blackburn Rovers, Stoke City and Burnley were all understood to have registered their interest, while Middlesbrough boss Chris Wilder wanted to take the former Preston man to the north-east.

However, it is the Scottish Premiership side who appear to have won the race for Davies with the Reds set to bank an initial £3m with a further £1m in add-ons.

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The Reds see those additional clauses as achievable and are understood to centre around appearances and team-related performance. The deal sees the club net a handsome profit on the initial £500,000 they paid Preston to land Davies in January 2021.

Davies was left off the club's tour of Thailand and Singapore as interest in him intensified over the last week or so and he is set to now undergo his medical this week in Glasgow.

The left-sided centre-half was brought to the club at the end of the January transfer window last year to help ease a crippling injury crisis that saw Jurgen Klopp without all three of his senior defenders in Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez.

Davies arrived alongside loan signing Ozan Kabak but never made a senior appearance at Anfield as Klopp eventually settled on a partnership of Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams. A 10-game unbeaten run towards the end of the campaign helped secure a third-place finish.

Club insiders at the time likened the move for Davies to that of the cut-price deal to sign Ragnar Klavan in 2016, but with the stakes high for the then Premier League champions as they attempted to salvage Champions League football with a debilitating list of injuries throughout the squad, the defender was unable to find an opportunity to bed into the team.

It means Davies leaves after 18 months as a Liverpool player without ever making a first-team appearance and it is understood sporting director Julian Ward has been overseeing negotiations with the Scots after establishing close relationships with his counter-parts at Ibrox during his time as loan and pathways manager.

Anfield sources have stressed the impressive level of Davies' professionalism throughout his time on Merseyside, despite his lack of opportunities, and while it is believed Klopp is disappointed with how the move panned out, a transfer to the Scottish giants is being viewed within the camp as a great opportunity for the 26-year-old.

With Liverpool having already recouped the initial £500,000 sum thanks to his loan deal with the Blades last season, it means the Reds will earn nine times what they paid for him less than two years ago.

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