Transfer deadline day: Liverpool the big winners with Davies and Kabak signings

In all, 70% of transfers in the window were loan deals. It felt strange, but history could prove that Liverpool did clever business in difficult times

For Ben Davies, a 25-year-old who has spent his entire career outside the top flight, it was a surreal move that appeared to come out of the blue as Liverpool gazumped Celtic to sign him — even though the player was going to be out of contract in June.

Liverpool dominated transfer deadline day as they finally addressed their defensive dilemma by bringing in two new defenders – after revealing that Joel Matip will be out until the end of the season with ankle ligament damage.

Matip’s injury, added to long term injuries for Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez, explains why the club were so desperate to bring in players at all costs; and with the window now shut, their successful pursuit of Preston defender Ben Davies and Schalke youngster Ozan Kabak turned out to be the highlights.