According to Sky Sports (22:24), Udinese are rivalling Sheffield United, Bournemouth, Celtic and Genk for Preston defender Ben Davies.
It’s claimed that Udinese’s interest is at an early stage, but they could be willing to offer Davies a move to Italy with his contract running down.
Davies has been offered a new deal to stay at Preston, but he hasn’t signed it – meaning he can negotiate a pre-contract agreement with a non-English club now.
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Sheffield United and Bournemouth can’t do that, but Celtic, Genk and now Udinese can offer such a deal for the 25-year-old defender.
This could be an absolute nightmare for Preston, because Udinese have strong ties to Watford; they’re both owned by the Pozzo family.
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Udinese could feasibly sign Davies to a pre-contract agreement this month and then loan him to Watford, circumventing the pre-contract agreement rules.
If Davies is to join an English club, Preston would want it to be now and for a transfer fee, rather than losing him for nothing to a side who may yet be in the same division as North End next season.
Still, with the January window now open, the race for Davies is hotting up, and it seems highly, highly unlikely that he will be staying at Deepdale.