Derby’s Steve Davies is believed to be the subject of the bid manager Paul Jewell revealed he had been lodged on Thursday morning. The Town manager’s confidence that a deal would go through, perhaps in time for Saturday’s game against Blackburn, suggested the target was a player he had been chasing for a while with Davies the most obvious candidate.
The 24-year-old was first linked with Town by the national press in late May but rumours that the 6ft 1in tall Liverpudlian would be joining the Blues in the summer had been circulating amongst Derby supporters since the end of last season.
Shortly after the end of 2011/12 Rams manager Nigel Clough revealed that Davies had been transfer-listed having turned down the offer of a new contract due to "a genuine family reason". Davies has a year remaining on his current deal, the Rams having taken up an option on his previous terms.
Town have been speaking to Derby regarding Davies all summer but the Blues were unwilling to meet the Midlanders’ £1 million price tag. It’s likely a compromise has finally been reached and we understand the club are confident of finally getting their man, albeit not in time for Saturday’s game against Blackburn as Jewell had hoped.
The Town boss signed Davies from Tranmere in 2008 when manager at Pride Park for a fee which could have risen as high as £725,000 had various clauses been triggered.
Injuries - including a fractured skull last October - have limited him to only 55 starts and 39 sub appearances in his four years with the Rams, in which time he has scored 23 goals, 12 of them during 2011/12.