Preston defender Ben Davies started at Sheffield Wednesday this afternoon, but wasn’t able to prevent a 1-0 defeat.
The centre back is now the big contract situation hanging over North End, having sold Ben Pearson and Darnell Fisher to Bournemouth and Middlesbrough respectively on Friday.
Alan Browne and Daniel Johnson have signed new contracts, so Davies the last one of the key out of contract stars yet to have his situation resolved.
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Here’s where we stand; Sky Sports claim that Davies has agreed a pre-contract agreement to join Celtic, but Alex Neil has told George Hodgson from Lancs Live that he ‘fully expects’ Davies to stay until the summer.
Now though, Celtic boss Neil Lennon has told the Daily Record that he is hoping to get a deal done for Davies before Monday’s transfer deadline.
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They’re seemingly open to paying cash to sign Davies, which could be tempting even if Neil wants to keep hold of the 25-year-old.
“Hopefully we can get it tied up before the deadline,” said Lennon. “We’d like it to happen but again, I can’t say for sure whether it’s going to happen or not,” he added.
Intriguingly, the Daily Record’s report suggests that Burnley have now shown an interest in signing Davies before Monday’s deadline.
The Clarets don’t necessarily need a centre back right now, so maybe Preston could engineer a deal to sell Davies for cash and bring him back on loan, tiding Burnley over until James Tarkowski receives interest.
Additionally, Preston have been linked with Burnley defender Jimmy Dunne, so there could be scope for a part-exchange deal involving the Irishman if Sean Dyche’s men do attempt to hijack Celtic’s interest.