Alex Neil has revealed that he was convinced Ben Davies was going to join Celtic on a pre-contract agreement this week – but he was refusing to let him move in January.
Celtic were heavily linked with a move for the 25-year-old defender in the final couple of weeks of last month’s transfer window.
Davies was out of contract at Preston in the summer and there were rumours that the Hoops were set to sign him in some capacity.
But the big centre-back wound up joining Liverpool in a £2 million deal on deadline day after the Premier League champions blew their Scottish counterparts out of the water.
He told Lancs Live: “To my knowledge, the deal with Celtic looked like he would end up there but in this window we wouldn’t have allowed him to go to Celtic unless there was a substantial fee attached – which I don’t think we would’ve got.
“I fully anticipated him staying until the end of the season and then naturally, Liverpool blew everything out of the water.”
What a fairytale for Davies but long term, might Celtic have been the better move?
Once Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez are fully fit this summer, regular football will be something of a rarity at Anfield next season, particularly if they also sign Ozan Kabak on a permanent basis when the window opens back up again.
You couldn’t begrudge Davies a chance to join the Premier League champions but for the sake of playing every week, there’s obviously a much better chance of that happening at Parkhead than Anfield, if we’re talking long term.
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