AFC Bournemouth are interested in saving Ben Davies from his nightmare at Liverpool - but face competition from Scottish giants Celtic, according to the Daily Mail.

It isn't the first time that the Cherries have been reported admirers of Davies, with LancsLive believing that they had a bid rejected back in September 2020 when he was at Preston North End for a figure 'lower than £5 million'.

Bournemouth's interest then continued into the January transfer window, but it looked as though Celtic were going to win the race either to prize the centre-back away from Deepdale immediately or on a pre-contract deal for the 2021-22 season.

But to the surprise of many, there was a last minute twist in the tail as Liverpool swooped to add the 25-year-old to their defensive ranks for an initial £500,000 fee.

Despite injuries to all of the Reds' top defenders though, Davies did not feature for Liverpool at all after signing and made the bench in just four Premier League games.

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Now with Virgil Van Dijk and Joe Gomez coming back to fitness, Liverpool could be willing to do a deal for Davies but any move is likely to be a loan deal.

The Verdict

It looks pretty clear that Davies doesn't have much of a future at Anfield - unless Jurgen Klopp is planning an Andy Robertson-style development where the Scot didn't play for the first six months and then burst into life for Liverpool.

But in this case it would be no shock if Davies were to leave this summer, but the wages he will now be on at the club will probably scupper any chances of a permanent deal - especially for Bournemouth.

The Cherries may have some funds to spend but it won't be a lot and they may have to sell a top player to fund some transfers, so a loan move for Davies would make a lot more sense.

But they may not be able to stop Celtic from getting their hands on Davies first - they were so close to landing him in January and the allure of European football would probably be a major plus point for him favouring the Hoops.