On this day: Portsmouth line up big-money moves for West Brom's Davies and former Arsenal and Real Madrid ace Anelka

The Blues launched a massive bid to make the 21-year-old the cornerstone of their defence ahead of the 2006-07 season.

Davies was the player manager Harry Redknapp had turned to in his bid to strengthen his back-line.

And Pompey were also set to focus their striker hunt on Nicolas Anelka, with reports of a £7.5m offer being tabled for the Fenerbahce frontman.

Redknapp was determined to land Davies as his hunt for reinforcements began to gather pace.

But Pompey were told they would have to up their offer to £10m to land one of the most exciting young talents in the game.

West Brom boss Bryan Robson said no club had met their valuation of Davies.

He said: ‘There’s a lot of speculation, but all I can say is that no-one has offered us what is good for the club.’

Pompey would also have had to break the bank to bring Anelka back to English football.

As well as finding another huge fee to sign the 27-year-old, Pompey would have had to find the money to cover his wages – thought to be in the region of £60,000-a-week.

At the time, Redknapp had turned his attention to Davies as his hopes of signing Sol Campbell were fade.

He didn't believe Campbell wanted to join his Fratton revolution, and felt he was most likely to move abroad.

We, of course, all know what happened next there.

Meanwhile, Pompey also had a £4m bid for Blackburn’s Ryan Nelsen turned down and were keeping tabs on Chelsea’s Robert Huth after the German international’s move to Middlesbrough collapsed.

Davies never made it to Pompey, instead remaining with West Brom for the 2006-07 season.

He did, however, join Aston Villa on loan the following year, before completing a permanent switch to Villa Park in 2008.

The centre-back, 33, currently plays at Derby, where he’s playing alongside former Pompey favourite Matt Clarke.

Anelka also failed to make it to Fratton, instead joining Bolton that summer for a free believed to have been in the region of £8m.