Klopp reveals qualities ‘smart’ Ben Davies will bring to Liverpool team

Ben Davies (pic from LFC)

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has spoken for the first time about the recruitment of centre-half Ben Davies on transfer deadline day.

The defender completed a £1.6million deal to the Premier League champions from Preston North End on Monday.

The Reds have had somewhat of a defensive crisis this season with key personnel frequently being ruled out with injury.

Klopp hopes that 25-year-old Davies, who will wear the number 28 shirt, can help solve this issue.

The German explained what drew him to the centre-half.

 

'Liverpool have been very, very clever'

'Liverpool have been very, very clever'

The Transfer Show's Kaveh Solhekol assesses Liverpool's Deadline Day business with Ben Davies and Ozan Kabak set to join the champions.

 

What I like about Ben is it just shows that each situation creates opportunities,” he said.

He’s a boy who played his whole life for Preston, is around the corner pretty much. We see the potential, really.

“We see the quality and we see the potential as well because he’s 25 and there’s a lot to come for him. I love a lot about his play.

“He’s a really good footballer, 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.”

Davies played 145 times for Preston since his debut in January 2013. He has featured 19 times for the Lilywhites this term with the club currently sitting 11th in the Championship.


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Unlikely source

Klopp admitted that he wouldn’t normally look at Preston North End in a ‘normal’ transfer window.

However, once he assessed Davies’ matchplay, the Liverpool boss was impressed by what he saw.

“I think it’s probably clear that in a normal transfer window, without any issues, we would not look at Preston if there’s a player for us or something like that,” he added.

“But since we saw him and since our situation got clearer and clearer – the problems we had – when we saw him we got really excited about it and thought, ‘Wow.’”

Liverpool take on Brighton on Wednesday as they continue their Premier League chase of Manchester City.

Davies is expected to be named in the match day squad.