According to Sportsmail, Liverpool are in talks to sign Preston North End centre-back Ben Davies before Monday’s transfer deadline and are looking to seal a £2 million deal.

The 25-year-old had agreed to join Scottish Premiership giants Celtic in the summer with six months left on his contract, but talks had advanced to bring that deal forward and sign him this month as the Hoops look to get their campaign back on track.

However, it appears the European giants are set to beat Neil Lennon’s side to Davies’ signature, and it will be interesting to see how things go in the coming hours.

BBC Radio Lancashire journalist Andy Bayes claims that Liverpool are yet to get in touch with the Championship outfit, though, and Celtic will be secretly wishing the reported deal falls through.

Who knows what materialises by tomorrow night. If a move was made, what a dream move it would be. Can’t understand why it’s taken this long to see him linked with a Premier League giant. My understanding is no enquiry has been made between the clubs, at this point.

— Andy Bayes (@AndyBayes) January 31, 2021

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With the defensive quartet of Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Joel Matip and Fabinho all out injured, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp wants to bring in an experienced centre-back to line up alongside Jordan Henderson in defence.

With 135 league appearances for Preston, Davies brings the much-needed experience and could be an upgrade on the duo of Rhys Williams and Nat Phillips.

Liverpool will see spending £2m on his services as good business, but whether he has the quality to impress for the defending champions remains to be seen.

That they are willing to send youngster Sepp van den Berg to Preston as cover for Davies’ departure means a deal should be wrapped up easily, and Celtic will be left disappointed if that happens.

The Englishman came through the Preston academy, but he had to go out on loan five times to gain experience and regular playing chances before breaking into the first-team in 2017.

All eyes will be on Davies should the move to Liverpool go through, and he will be keen to prove that he can make the step-up from the Championship to the top-flight.