BEVERLY HILLS, February 01, (THEWILL) – Defending champions of the English Premier League Liverpool announced, on Monday, the capture of centre back Ben Davies from Preston North End. Preston North End Football Club is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, that currently plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system.
Davies signed what Liverpool called “a long-term contract” which is what the club was seeking in their shopping for reinforcements at the back. Costing an initial sign-on fee of £500,000, the deal to bring the Championship player to the current Premier League champions could rise to £1.6 million if add-on clauses are realised.
In his first interview, Davies said to Liverpool’s official website: “I’m obviously delighted to be here. It’s a huge opportunity.
“Obviously it came as a bit of a surprise when it first came but once you start to get your head around it, the opportunity that is in front of me is incredible. I’d be silly to not make the most of it and learn off the players [at the club].
“I’ve never actually been to Anfield and I haven’t had a look around yet. I had a quick look out and had a look at the pitch and it looks like carpet, which obviously you’d expect.
“I haven’t actually walked out of the tunnel yet, so I’m looking forward to that. Just to be in this kind of atmosphere is brilliant.”
Davies made his Preston debut in January 2013 before spending time on loan at York City, Tranmere Rovers, Southport, Newport County and Fleetwood Town. He cemented his place in the Lilywhites’ first team during the 2017-18 campaign, making 35 appearances across all competitions.
Davies went on to make a further 98 appearances for Alex Neil’s side, 19 of which came this season. He will help fill in for injured duo Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez.
Liverpool are also expected to complete the signing of Ozan Kabak, another defensive reinforcement, from Schalke 04 on an initial loan deal with an arrangement to buy in the summer.
These signings point to the positive identification of where Liverpool’s problems remain and a strong desire to fix these problems to challenge aggressively for the defense of their title even as they return to their goal scoring ways of the 2019/2020 season.
Whether Davies will hit the ground running and not be intimidated by the yawning gap in quality between the Premiership and the Championship, which was apparent in his own words, remains to be seen. But, Jurgen Klopp has shown time and again what he can do with the talents he brings in.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
