Celtic might very well have missed out on a potentially crucial signing by trying to get him for as little as possible once again and leaving the door open for another club to swoop in.
The tale of missed signings for the club over the years has many chapters. In those there is usually a strong common denominator of trying to get a player in for as little transfer fee as possible and being beaten by a more realistic offer from another club. John McGinn to Aston Villa comes to mind immediately and look what a player he has turned out to be!
We’ve seen lots of stories linking the Hoops to Ben Davies, a classy and highly-rated centre-back currently playing for Preston North End. His contract runs out at the end of the season. In the previous summer transfer window, he was of interest to the Hoops but rather than sign him then, the plan seemed to be to let the contract run down so that they could get him for free.
In the current transfer window, we’ve seen talk of Davies getting close to signing a pre-contract agreement with Celtic to join at the end of the season. Given the current form and availability of centre-backs there’s plenty of sense in trying to do a deal for him now rather than later.
The Celtic target could be off to Liverpool
The risk of playing it cheap and not getting the business done is that someone else steps in and seals a deal instead. Could that happen again? Well it’s starting to look quite likely with several sources now quoting a strong Liverpool interest in the player.
Liverpool are in talks with Preston to sign Ben Davies from Preston for £2m and deal looks increasingly set to happen. It's likely that Sepp van der Berg will go to Deepdale on loan, also.
— Dominic King (@DominicKing_DM) January 31, 2021
Liverpool interested in signing Ben Davies from Preston ahead of deadline day tomorrow. £2m fee. #LFC
— Neil Jones (@neiljonesgoal) January 31, 2021
Whatever we all think as Celtic fans, right now that’s going to look a much better option than heading north to Glasgow to join what looks like a club in crisis.
And judging from the fact that he might be going to the reigning Premier League champions, it is safe to say that he could be quite the player. Perhaps another one that got away. Not because he wanted to but because we let him.