Birmingham City must act quickly as Oxford United and QPR 'battling it out' to sign 'top-drawer' defender

Oxford United and Queens Park Rangers have reportedly entered the race to sign Rangers central defender Ben Davies this summer, however Birmingham World understands that Birmingham City are still in the picture.

Blues are interested in taking Davies on a permanent deal after a hugely successful season-long loan in 2024/25. It’s understood that signing another centre-back is one of the priorities before the end of the transfer window, with Davies high up on the shortlist.

Birmingham made great use of Davies last term and the recruitment team recognise he could make a decent impact in the Championship, too. Blues have made a good start with Christoph Klarer and Phil Neumann as a new central defensive partnership but Davies arriving would create some healthy competition.

Oxford and QPR join Davies transfer fight

As much as Blues are keen on re-signing Davies, they’ve not exactly got a move on with an approach. They could miss out and be left disappointed if they’re not careful as several Championship rivals are now reportedly pushing to sign the defender instead.

Football Insider reports Oxford and QPR are now ‘battling it out’ to sign Davies. Both clubs are said to have registered a formal interest in the Rangers man, who is no longer considered part of head coach Russell Martin’s plans at Ibrox Stadium.

Despite Birmingham’s retained interest, the report from Football Insider states Oxford and QPR can be considered the front-runners. If Blues act quickly that could change, though, as Davies is already accustomed with the squad and Birmingham are expected to be higher up in the standings.

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 Klarer. When the season began, not many people would have believed you if you said then-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.

Klopp big advocate of Davies

It’s not just Birmingham who have seen the good side of Davies, as former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was a 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 top-drawer 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.”