Ben Davies is a very shrewd acquisition by Rangers, we’ve maybe paid a few pounds more than we would have wanted to after trying to sign him on pre-contract agreement in 2021, however, with his best years still ahead of him, he could prove to be just as valuable as Connor Goldson in the long run.
At nearly 27-years old, the former Liverpool centre-half has a lot of experience playing against physical teams in England’s lower leagues and won’t struggle to adapt to the Scottish Premiership plus, for those doubting his ability to replace Calvin Bassey, one of his many strengths is the ability to press attackers high up the pitch – he might not have the same physique, but he has the same mindset.
I’m always more encouraged when we sign a player who has clearly been targeted for some time and what we are getting with Davies is so much more than just a centre-half, he will be another player that we can rely on to be available for 50 plus games a season.
It sounds like a relatively straight forward concept but you just need to look at the last two seasons when we invariably had three or four players rotating next to Goldson, and not always through choice.
Our sporting director has a tough task to move on the dead wood in the squad but gradually replacing the likes of Filip Helander and Kemar Roofe over the next 12-24 months is equally as hard given how much they were bought for, how good they are as players but also, how little they are currently contributing – with Davies, it looks as though that process has begun.