Glasgow Rangers have made giant strides this summer with regard to improving their first-team squad.
Michael Beale has signed nine players, with Jose Cifuentes and Danilo the standouts, and the onus will now be on the Ibrox side to add some silverware to the trophy cabinet, having finished last season trophyless.
There will surely be a few players departing Glasgow in order to balance the books and defender Ben Davies could be someone who leaves, despite only signing for the Gers last summer.
Does Ben Davies have a future at Rangers?
An update has been given by The 4th Official regarding the recent state of play, and it appears as though Davies is free to depart Ibrox.
Read the latest Rangers transfer news HERE…
The former Liverpool centre-back moved North of the border for a fee of £4m and he signed a four-year deal under Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
According to Football Scotland back in June, Stoke City showed an interest in the Englishman while there were also others keen on signing him, but it was stated that Beale wasn’t prepared to move him on.
The club have since signed Leon Balogun and given the recent update by The 4th Official; the manager has now seemingly changed his mind with Davies.
What could Rangers’ defence look like against Kilmarnock?
With the first Premiership fixture of the 2023/24 campaign taking place tomorrow evening against Kilmarnock, Beale will face a slight selection headache in regard to who will form his central defensive duo.
Leon King is out for the foreseeable future due to injury, whilst Connor Goldson didn’t feature at all during pre-season.
If Goldson is near full fitness however, he should be slotted into the starting XI and Beale will surely choose one of either John Souttar or Balogun to partner him, especially given the fact Davies could soon leave the club.
The 27-year-old endured a disappointing campaign during 2022/23, ranking 14th across the squad for overall Sofascore rating (6.94), 16th for tackles (0.9) and seventh for interceptions (0.8) per game, clearly suggesting he didn’t justify the £4m fee the Gers shelled out for him.
His performances in the Champions League were even worse, looking out of his depth at the highest level by achieving a Sofascore rating of just 6.23/10 across three matches, losing possession 10.3 times on average per game.
With a lack of options, Beale had to play Davies throughout the season and his poor performances culminated in a truly woeful showing against Celtic at Parkhead back in April.
With the match finely balanced, Davies failed to clear an easy ball over the top which allowed Celtic to score their second goal, and he was subsequently criticised by the media, with former striker Kenny Miller leading the way, saying:
“It’s a wonderful finish. Again he’s alert, alive, ruthless when the chance drops.
“But it’s so poor from Ben Davies. He should be heading that out.”
The £27k-per-week defender also lost possession ten times during that tie while making just two tackles and the loss arguably ended their title challenge.
If Beale could recoup the majority of what the Light Blues paid for him in 2022 before the end of the transfer window, it could represent an excellent piece of the business by the club.
