Glasgow Rangers will be hoping to forget the opening few weeks of their season as the Premiership resumes tomorrow following the international break.

Michael Beale has led his side to just four wins from the opening nine matches of the 2023/24 campaign and this is simply not good enough, both domestically and in Europe.

The nine summer arrivals haven’t quite gelled into the squad yet and with pressure building, Beale will have to get results, and fast, if he hopes to keep his job beyond Christmas.

In truth, the Light Blues transfer business in recent years hasn’t exactly been up to scratch. Of course, there have been a few hidden gems, such as Joe Aribo, Todd Cantwell, and summer arrival Jack Butland, but vast sums of money have been spent on players who failed to live up to expectations at the club.

Defender Ben Davies certainly falls under the latter category as his spell in Glasgow has proven to be a big disappointment so far, despite first impressions of the player being largely positive.

How much did Rangers sign Ben Davies for?

The Englishman arrived at Ibrox last summer for a fee of £4m from Liverpool, and it looked like a solid piece of business by Giovanni van Bronckhorst, especially with Calvin Bassey and Leon Balogun departing the Gers, leaving them short in defence.

Anfield boss Jurgen Klopp even heaped praise on Davies, saying: “It’s a smart piece of recruitment from Giovanni van Bronckhorst, to be honest. Perfect for all parties. He has himself an accomplished defender, who is entering his peak years and whose character is top drawer.

“We wish Ben nothing but the success he deserves and will be following from here as he goes on to make many achievements during the rest of his career.”

High praise indeed from the German and the Ibrox faithful would certainly have been buoyed at hearing these words, yet it turned out to be a false dawn.

How good was Ben Davies?

Van Bronckhorst was clearly pleased with Davies’ performances for Sheffield United during the 2021/22 campaign, spending a period on loan at the Blades from Liverpool.

Across the whole season, Davies ranked second in the squad for accurate passes per game (48.7), while also ranking fourth for interceptions (1.4) and fifth for clearances (2.6) per game, demonstrating that he was highly adept at passing out from the back and starting attacks.

Indeed, across the three and half seasons before he moved to the Reds, Davies ranked in the top three among his Preston North End teammates for accurate passes, even topping the pile during the first half of the 2020/21 season and this attribute clearly impressed the Dutchman.

Unfortunately, it didn’t go quite to plan for the 28-year-old during his maiden season at the Gers, and he has certainly slipped down the pecking order following a series of poor performances.

How did Ben Davies perform at Rangers?

Despite arriving for a significant fee, Davies started only once for the Gers up until the international break at the start of September, a routine win over St Johnstone.

He also missed the opening two matches of the Champions League campaign, although when he returned for the ties against Liverpool and the away match against Napoli, he failed to have any positive influence whatsoever.

Over these three matches, the centre-back averaged a SofaScore rating of 6.23, kept zero clean sheets, lost possession 10.3 times per game and averaged only one tackle per game, and this resulted in the Gers conceding 12 goals.

When Van Bronckhorst was sacked and Beale took over last November, it was looked upon as a fresh start for not just Davies, but the rest of the squad following the horrendous start to the season.

The former Anfield defender even managed to play a part in all but four matches under the former QPR boss, and it looked as though a partnership between him and Connor Goldson was going to be the norm ahead of the 2023/24 season.

The statistics tell a different story however, as Davies ranked way down in 14th position for Sofascore rating (6.94) across the whole squad for his league displays while he also ranked 16th for tackles (0.9), seventh for interceptions (0.8) and fifth for accurate passes (50.7), suggesting that he failed to improve the current squad.

With the title slipping from Rangers’ grasp, his performance against Celtic in the penultimate Old Firm league clash of the season was criticised.

With the tie finely poised at 1-1, Davies managed to stop a cross from Joto heading into the penalty area yet he failed to clear the ball properly on the byline, and it led to the winger setting up Kyogo Furuhashi to score Celtic’s second of the afternoon.

Former Gers frontman Kenny Miller stated his view of the goal, and he wasn’t exactly complimentary about the defender, saying: “It’s a wonderful finish. Again he’s alert, alive, ruthless when the chance drops.

“But it’s so poor from Ben Davies. He should be heading that out.”

Kirk Broadfoot, another former Gers alumni, also criticised Davies, saying: "Davies is someone who looks like he is good with the ball at his feet, but I don't know if he is really aggressive enough.

"He can get rolled and bullied sometimes in the middle, and I would be tempted to play him at left centre-back of a three or even left-back.”

Does Ben Davies have a future at Rangers?

Goldson has formed a solid duo at the heart of the defence with a rejuvenated John Souttar this term, which has led to Davies making zero appearances across the opening nine matches of 2023/24.

The club rejected an offer from Stoke City during the dying embers of the transfer window, as the Championship side were looking at just signing him on loan rather than a permanent deal.

He has been included in the Europa League squad for the group-stage ties, but it remains to be seen whether he will see any game time or not.

Initial impressions of the player were good and having splashed £4m on him, the supporters certainly expected a defender of that value to perform well.

It hasn’t worked out nearly as well as first anticipated, and although he is still currently at the Gers, it looked as though he was close to departing during the summer.

The next few months until the January transfer window will be crucial, but if he fails to impress, Beale may decide to cash in during the middle of the season.