Sheffield United handed transfer boost over 2021/22 loanee as Premier League club’s stance emerges

Ben Davies has been deemed surplus to requirements at Liverpool and will be made available for transfer ahead of 2022/23, according to Football Insider.

There may only be a market for the 26-year-old in the Championship, having spent the majority of his career there including last season on loan at Sheffield United, and with that in mind, Davies could be best advised to stay put, with three years remaining on his deal at Anfield, rather than to take a pay cut to move elsewhere.

Davies would be arguably one of the more gifted ball playing centre backs in the Championship next term, which goes someway to explaining why he fell out of favour at Bramall Lane, after Paul Heckingbottom replaced Slavisa Jokanovic and implemented a far less possession-based style of play.

The Blades could be interested in bringing Davies back, as per the Sheffield Star, but it feels unlikely that would be a mutually beneficial move at this stage of his career.

It is difficult to see a second tier side buying him out of that contract with the Reds, therefore a loan move could be more realistic once again, unless a lower Premier League club show some interest, for example Nottingham Forest.

The Verdict

Davies will have plenty of suitors, but there is a good chance that only a loan move is feasible for them, however the Reds are still in a strong position in terms of asset management with him contracted until the summer of 2025.

Swansea City could be the perfect destination for the left sided centre back, due to Russell Martin’s intense possession-based style of play.

It has been fascinating to watch the Swans evolve under the Scotsman, and Davies slotting in on the left of the back three would open up some different patterns of play.

Kyle Naughton