Report: West Ham eyeing Preston's Ben Davies this week; previously linked with Celtic pre-contract switch

By David Walton

October 11, 2020

West Ham United are eyeing up a potential move for Preston North End defender Ben Davies this week, according to the Sunday Mirror (print edition, 11/10, p73).

The newspaper reports that West Ham boss David Moyes has three defensive targets in mind ahead of the closure of the domestic window in England this Friday. Davies is said to be one of them, along with the likes of Craig Dawson and Joe Rondon respectively.

The Mirror says that Moyes knows all about English centre-back Davies due to his strong links to Preston, having previously been there as a manager.

Reported Celtic target Ben Davies / (Photo by Kevin Barnes – CameraSport via Getty Images)

This may be one to keep an eye on for Celtic too. The Sun reported during the international transfer window that Celtic were likely to sign the defender on a pre-contract in January.

Davies is out of contract at the end of the season, meaning time is running out for Preston to do a deal. The Sheffield Star believes the defender is valued at around £10million.

Domestic window threatening to remove future Celtic targets from the market

The domestic window down in England may cause a few headaches at Parkhead in the final few days. Whilst we have our squad exactly where we want it for the upcoming season, some permanent deals in the next few days could rule out certain targets that may have been eyed for next summer.

Davies falls into that bracket. At 25 and having had experience from League Two up to Championship level, the ball-playing centre-back looks primed for a bigger move.

If he’s on Celtic’s radar, this could be a nervy few days ahead of the closure of the English window. Sides down south can still do deals with each other before 5pm on October 16th. That means Davies could be a West Ham player with Celtic powerless to do anything about it as we look ahead to January.

Preston North End’s Celtic-linked Ben Davies (Photo by Lewis Storey/Getty Images)

And with no signs of the player penning a new deal anytime soon, this could be one of Preston’s final opportunities to sell him for some decent money.

Celtic of course are set for the season ahead. With Shane Duffy arriving on loan from Brighton, we’re fine up until the summer of 2021 with the squad we’ve got. But with questions over his and Kristoffer Ajer’s long-term future no doubt set to come towards the end of the season, Davies may be someone who could provide a more long-term solution.

But that’s only if nothing is done over the next few days. The international window may be over, but it’s a case with watch this space down south this week. Some reported summer targets may start disappearing off the market ahead of January.

In other news, we talk about how any injuries for AC Milan would still be bad news for Celtic.