Noel Whelan

Thu 4 February 2021 10:00, UK

Celtic are in desperate need of defensive reinforcements and Ben Davies would have been a fantastic signing.

That is the view of former Aberdeen striker Noel Whelan, speaking exclusively to Football Insider after the 25-year-old snubbed a pre-contract offer from the Hoops and completed a permanent transfer to Liverpool.

This site broke the news last Sunday afternoon Davies’ move to Parkhead had been hijacked by the Premier League champions.

He was close to agreeing a pre-contract deal that would have seen him move to Glasgow at the end of the season and the Hoops were negotiating with Preston North End about completing a permanent deal during the winter window.

Celtic lost 2-1 to St. Mirren on Saturday with the visitors’ winning goal coming from İlkay Durmuş who was easily able to outmuscle Shane Duffy before beating Scott Bain.

“That’s the reason why they were wanting to get Ben Davies through the door and sign his pre-contract,” Whelan told Football Insider.

“They are in desperate need of quality and they don’t seem to have that at the minute at centre-half.

“They’re really struggling with consistency and mistakes costing them goals.

“That is why they are so desperate and why it is a massive blow they couldn’t get that one over the line and Liverpool have pipped them.

“I really think they need a player like Ben Davies at that football club but it’s not to be.

“These little mistakes, these little lapses in concentration keep creeping into that Celtic backline.”

Celtic’s interest in Davies dates back to the summer when they had earmarked the Preston academy graduate as a potential replacement for Kristoffer Ajer.

The Englishman played over 140 games for his boyhood club and enjoyed loan spells with York City, Tranmere Rovers, Southport, Newport County and Fleetwood Town.

In other news, a top pundit has claimed Celtic have made an approach to sign “their Steven Davis”.