Stoke City do have an interest in Rangers centre-back Ben Davies, although it’s unlikely that he will leave Ibrox this summer.

Who is Ben Davies?

The 27-year-old should be well-known to fans in England, as he has spent the bulk of his career in the Football League, most notably with Preston and Sheffield United.

Davies secured a move to Glasgow last year, but he has endured a tough first season in the Scottish Premiership, with Rangers coming up short against bitter rivals Celtic, who can seal another treble with a victory over Inverness in the Scottish Cup on Saturday.

Therefore, new boss Michael Beale is expected to oversee an overhaul this summer, and it has been suggested that Davies could be someone who departs, even though he has featured regularly since the former QPR chief came in.

And, Football Scotland has revealed that there is interest in Davies from Championship clubs, including Stoke City. But, the update adds that a sale is unlikely this summer.

Firstly, they claim that Davies is happy at the club, whilst Beale is not keen to sell, even if he is targeting a new centre-back in the summer window to strengthen his squad. Furthermore, they add that the wages the player is a ‘high earner’ at Rangers, so he would need a big offer to tempt him to leave.

Alex Neil is expected to be busy in the coming weeks as he looks to put his own mark on the Stoke squad ahead of what will be his first full season in charge at the Bet365 Stadium.

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Stoke may be forced to look elsewhere

You can understand why the Potters are interested in Davies, because he is a proven defender at Championship level, and he has obviously worked with Neil before with Preston, so the boss knows him well.

But, if Rangers don’t want to sell then this could be a difficult deal to do. They paid around £4m to bring him in, so it would take a decent fee to get the player out of Ibrox, as well as the wages on top. And, with Stoke expected to be busy in many areas, Neil will want to stretch the funds he has across a few deals.

You can never say never in football, but this doesn’t seem as though it’s one that will happen, but Davies is the sort of centre-back that Neil should be targeting to improve his squad this summer.