Delighted Ibrox boss keen to give Davies game time
GIOVANNI VAN BRONCKHORST last night expressed his delight at completing the £4 million signing of Liverpool centre-half Ben Davies following Rangers’ comfortable 3-1 win over West Ham in a pre-season friendly at Ibrox.
Davies, who became Van Bronckhorst’s sixth summer signing when he put pen to paper on a four-year deal yesterday, was paraded on the park before kick-off in Govan.
Van Bronckhorst, whose side beat their Premier League opponents thanks to goals from Tom Lawrence, Ryan Kent and Rabbi Matondo, is pleased to have bolstered his squad further and is hoping he can give his new recruit game time soon.
Rangers play their opening cinch Premiership match against Livingston at Almondvale on Saturday week and then face Royale Union SaintGilloise in a Champions League third qualifying round match in Belgium three days later.
“First of all, I am happy he [Davies] has joined us,” he said. “He is a left-footed defender and that is very important for the team. He is very comfortable with the ball. He is a good passer, a good reader of the game and a good defender.
“His time at Liverpool didn’t work out how he would have wanted [Davies failed to make a first-team appearance for the Anfield giants after joining them in February last year and was loaned out to Sheffield United last season]. But that happens.
“When we spoke he was very, very excited to start and be part of Rangers. He will also add his qualities. We will see if he can get some minutes at the weekend. We play Tottenham on Saturday and Queens
Park on Sunday so it is really important to give the players some minutes now.”
Asked about the win over West Ham, Van Bronckhorst added: “I think we can take a lot of positives from this game against strong opponents – seventh in the Premier League last season and Europa League semi-finals as well.
“We scored three excellent goals. I am really happy. Everyone is working hard to get their qualities into the team. We still have some games to go, but everything has to be in line for our first game against Livingston.
“We added some players in our defence. We have signed Ben Davies and John Souttar. But James Sands can play there as well as he showed in the second half against West Ham. I am really happy with the squad.
“We have a big squad which makes it harder for me. I am really happy with the options available to me. It is good to welcome the new faces this season and everyone is excited for the new season.
“We have the game ahead against Tottenham. Today we made some changes to make sure the players are not o verworked. Antonio Colak is the only fit striker we have. Hopefully we get Alfredo Morelos back in the coming weeks.”
Davies can play at left-back as well as centre-half, but Van Bronckhorst was pleased with the display of Borna Barisic, the only specialist left-back he has in his squad, in the West Ham pre-season friendly.
“I am happy with Borna,” he said. “Last year Borna played left-back and Calvin [Bassey] as well. Now I only have Borna and his performance are really good. We will have to see how we go.”