Rangers announced the signing of Ben Davies on a 4-year contract shortly before kick-off against West Ham United in a move that goes someway to filling the gap left by Calvin Bassey’s move to Ajax.
The 26-year old defender has a solid career in England and is highly regarded as a ball-playing stopper, adding balance to Connor Goldson on the right which should make it harder for teams to orchestrate a press and keep opposition teams on their toes at the back.
The fee is expected to rise to £4million which is a sizeable outlay for a player nowadays and, like his new defensive partner Goldson, he has been bought not to sell on, but to be a key part of the starting XI for the next few years.
Encouragingly, Davies’s move has been given the seal of approval by no less a figure in football than Jurgen Klopp, as reported by The Rangers Review:
“It’s a smart piece of recruitment from Giovanni van Bronckhorst, to be honest. Perfect for all parties. He has himself an accomplished defender, who is entering his peak years and whose character is top drawer.
“Rangers is a fantastic club, a big club. Ben belongs on a big stage for sure. European football as well. This presents a proper opportunity to demonstrate his quality and composure.
“As a person he’s as good a guy as you could hope to meet.”
High praise indeed even if Klopp himself didn’t see fit to give Davies a run in his team, there is a recurring theme with the analysis of him though and that is one of being a confident, modern defender who not only does the basics but plays a key role in helping to build attacks – he might be totally different in style but with a potential profit of over £20m, we have come out of the two deals in pretty good shape.