‘Bid accepted’ - Birmingham City closing in on signing 'top-drawer' 29-year-old

Birmingham City are reportedly closing in on Rangers central defender Ben Davies after a breakthrough in negotiations.

Blues have been keen to bring Davies to St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park on a permanent basis following a hugely successful loan spell last season, and now there appears to be a development. Birmingham have already signed centre-backs Phil Neumann and Eiran Cashin this summer but depth in even greater numbers is seemingly desired.

Football Insider reports Birmingham have been in advanced talks with Rangers to sign Davies permanently. It’s claimed a bid has now been accepted, with Blues set to snap the defender up for merely £750,000. The deal is set to be completed once Davies has recovered from a minor injury.

Davies made superb impression at Birmingham

Bluenoses will be delighted if Davies re-joins the club as he was utterly superb in League One last campaign, creating a formidable partnership alongside Christoph Klarer. When the season began, not many people would have believed you if you said captain Krystian Bielik would be sitting on the bench thanks to a loanee replacing him, but that ended up being the case.

Davies played 35 times in League One and added a further nine appearances across the Vertu Trophy and FA Cup. Bielik hardly got a look-in as a result, while Dion Sanderson was loaned out and Grant Hanley had to be patient for rare opportunities towards the end of the season.

It could be tricky for Davies to play as regularly during the upcoming season. Klarer is bound to be one of the first names on the team sheet; Neumann wouldn’t have turned down Bundesliga clubs to play second fiddle in the Championship; Brighton & Hove Albion wouldn’t have loaned out Cashin if they weren’t strong game time assurances.

Davies could perhaps be fielded at left-back instead as he’s competent in the position, though that would be harsh on Alex Cochrane, who was very consistent last season. Davies also doesn’t have the same technical ability as Cochrane, who has proven himself as a fine crosser of the ball. Nonetheless, Davies putting pen to paper would come as a huge boost for Blues.

Jurgen Klopp big advocate of Ben Davies

It’s not just Birmingham who have seen the good side of Davies, as former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was huge fan of the defender. When Davies originally signed for the Reds from Preston North End in 2021, Klopp said: “I love a lot about his play. He’s a really good footballer.

“He looks like a proper leader in this Preston team, good in challenges, looks football smart, can play different positions because he played in a back three and a back four and all these things. That makes him really interesting so I’m really looking forward to working with him."

Then, when he allowed Davies to leave for Rangers just a year later, Klopp added: "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.

"He [then Rangers boss Giovanni Van Bronckhorst] has himself an accomplished defender, who is entering his peak years and whose character is top drawer. We wish Ben nothing but the success he deserves and will be following from here as he goes on to make many achievements during the rest of his career.”