Ben Davies

Davies offers a manager genuine flexibility down the left side of a defence, equally capable of playing as the last man in a settled back three or filling in at left back whenever injuries start to bite. That versatility was forged through a long list of loan spells at clubs across the divisions, each one adding a different test to his game. Few defenders arrive with such a varied footballing education behind them.

The obvious question is why a player with his range of experience has spent so much of his career out on loan rather than nailing down one shirt for good, since part of the answer is simply timing. He arrived at a major club just as its defence was already settled, which pushed him back out to find regular football elsewhere. Watch whether a settled run finally lets him show what all those loans were building towards.