Forgotten Liverpool signing's nightmare finally set to end as bid accepted

Forgotten Liverpool defender Ben Davies is on the cusp of ending his Anfield nightmare after the Reds reportedly agreed a £4million deal with Rangers.

Davies completed a shock move to Liverpool from Championship outfit Preston North End back in February 2021 as Jurgen Klopp saw injuries ravage his squad. At the time, Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez had been sidelined due to serious knee injuries, while the Reds were made to regret not replacing Dejan Lovren, who was sold to Zenit St Petersburg in the summer of the previous year.

With Joel Matip - who himself struggled to sustain his fitness - the only regular first-team option at Klopp's disposal, the German dipped into the market against his will to bolster his backline. Davies subsequently joined to the surprise of many. However, having failed to make a single appearance for Liverpool and spending last season on loan at Sheffield United, the defender is now on the verge of departing.

According to The Times, the Reds reject is poised to join Scottish giants Rangers in a £4m deal, as Calvin Bassey's replacement. The latter is himself close to joining Ajax for a club-record fee which could rise beyond £20m as the Eredivisie champions plan for life after Lisandro Martinez, who has agreed to join Manchester United.

Ironically, Davies appeared set to join Rangers' bitter rivals Celtic back in February 2021 before Liverpool's intervention. The Reds hijacked the centre-back's proposed move to Park Head, agreeing an up-front fee of £500,000 plus a potential £1.1m in bonuses.

Upon Davies putting pen-to-paper over a reported five-year deal, Klopp admitted the transfer would not have taken place had it not been for the club's concerning injury crisis and a lack of available defensive options. He acknowledged: "I think it's probably clear that in a normal transfer window, without any issues, we would not look at Preston if there's a player for us or something like that.

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"It's not really likely. But since we saw him and since our situation got clearer and clearer - the problems we had - when we saw him we got really excited about it and thought: 'Wow.'

"He's a boy who played his whole life for Preston, is around the corner pretty much. We see the potential really. I love a lot about his play. He's a really good footballer, looks like a proper leader in this Preston team."

The Lancashire club were indeed Davies' only permanent home prior to his surprise move to Anfield, though the defender had previous loan spells with the likes of York, Tranmere, Southport, Newport and Fleetwood before establishing himself in Preston's first team.

"It's a huge opportunity, yeah," the defender admitted upon securing a move to Liverpool - one which the club described as a 'fairytale'. "Obviously it came as a bit of a surprise when it first came out but once you start to get your head around it, the opportunity that is in front of me is incredible and I'd be silly to let it wash up or not make the most of it and [I'll] try to learn off the players.

"I think a football career is so short and you need to try to be on that pitch as much as you can. So when this door is open, I look to come in and try to get in the first team, play some games and help the team do well."

In the end, Klopp called up the services on inexperienced duo Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams amid the club's centre-back injury crisis, while Davies was left to watch on from the sidelines. The defender, who was the subject to interest from the likes of Middlesborough, Blackburn, Stoke and Burnley as well this summer, is now set to embark on a new challenge north of the border as his Anfield nightmare is finally over.