Sheffield United: Blades receive guidance over transfer target as Arsenal's eyes remain on Aaron Ramsdale

Slavisa Jokanovic, who has spoken of his desire to retain Ramsdale’s services this season, wants to bring Davies to South Yorkshire after deciding to play with a back four rather than the three man defence favoured by former manager Chris Wilder.

Jurgen Klopp, Jokanovic’s counterpart in the North-West, is willing to part company with Davies after failing to select him in any of his starting elevens since acquiring the player from Preston North End earlier this year.

The centre-half is also known to be keen on the idea of joining United, after they held talks with his representatives during the January transfer window. But Michael Edwards, Klopp’s sporting director, is understood to favour selling Davies despite knowing that inviting temporary offers could help to speed up the process.

Liverpool also appear to have ruled-out the prospect of loaning Harvey Elliott, another Liverpool player Jokanovic was interested in recruiting after working with the youngster at Fulham, out to a Championship side following a series of impressive displays this summer.

Klopp described Elliott as “my new midfielder” over the weekend, following a friendly against Athletic Bilbao.

United, who face Carlisle in the first round of the EFL Cup tonight, have yet to make any new signings during the transfer window, although they are known to have held talks with UC Sampdoria about bringing Ronaldo Veira back to England as Jokanovic plots a “refresh” of the squad he inherited from Wilder.

Instead much of their focus has been on attempting to thwart Arsenal’s efforts to lure Ramsdale to the Emirates Stadium. After rejecting a series of unofficial offers for the 23-year-old, it will be intriguing to see if Jokanovic selects him against the Cumbrians. However Ramsdale did start last weekend’s Championship opener against Birmingham City, which ended in a 1-0 defeat for his team.

Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal manager, plans to use Ramsdale in the cup if he does complete a switch to north London.