Ben Davies admits he can't believe Atletico Madrid want to sign him from Swansea

Swansea City defender Ben Davies is being tracked by a number of top European clubs



Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Atletico Madrid are all said to be interested in the 21-year-old



The Welshman says the rumours have boosted his confidence, but won't turn his head



He turns 21 next Thursday, but there’s another number that has been dominating Ben Davies’s every waking moment. With the season nearing a nail-biting finale, all the Swansea left back can think of is reaching the magical 40-point mark and ensuring his home club remain in the Barclays Premier League.

A couple of wins and a draw would do it and while the shortfall remains, nothing else matters. Not celebrating his landmark birthday, not wondering which club might eventually win the bidding for his services.

There are plenty of contenders. Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal have all followed the Wales defender’s rapid progress closely, and Atletico Madrid are now showing strong interest.

All smiles: Swansea left back Ben Davies has had a fine season and attracted interest from Spurs Top form: Atletico Madrid currently top La Liga and will face Chelsea in the Champions League semi-finals

Davies was as sceptical as anyone at first mention of the La Liga leaders, but confirmation has since come from Madrid as well as here that Chelsea’s Champions League semi-final opponents are taken with the composed way he has seized his chance at the Liberty Stadium.

It brings a brief smile to his face, but the serious business of staying up soon takes precedence for a sporting all-rounder who had his rugby-mad dad dreaming he might be another Barry John but was snapped up by Swansea at eight years old.

‘The first I knew about Atletico was when a pal texted me the morning the story appeared,’ he said.



‘My phone beeped and there was this message saying, “Have you seen this? Atletico Madrid?!” I went online to see what it was all about. It is nice to hear something like that because it clearly means you must be doing something right.

‘It’s got to be a boost for your confidence but it’s not going to turn my head. I don’t need something like that to make me concentrate on what’s in front of me or suddenly up my game. I’m going to do that anyway, for myself and my club. I am ambitious about playing at the highest level I can but I tend to think that if you put performances in to the best of your ability, things will take care of themselves.

‘For now, all I’m thinking about is staying up. My mum wants to organise a party for my 21st but that can wait. Once we’re safe, maybe, but not before. I’ve told her to hang on for that, then we can have a proper party.’



Top player: A £12million deal for the full back looks to be off as Tottenham look elsewhere

On hold: The 21-year-old left back has been attracting attention after a great season in the Premier League

BAINES IS BEST, SAYS BEN

Ben Davies was earning £400 a week when he broke into the first team last season.

He is a fan of Everton left back Leighton Baines. Last year, Davies said: ‘He’s probably not the quickest, like me, and probably not the strongest player in the world but the runs forward he makes and the chances he makes make him far and above the best left back in the league.’

If Davies goes to Spain he will become only the third Welsh player to do so, after Mark Hughes and Gareth Bale.

Davies earned an A-star in A-level maths.

His parents are Swansea season-ticket holders.

The range of nationalities in Swansea’s dressing room has been in the news this week, with Sportsmail breaking the story that there had been training-ground punch-ups between the players.

But Davies revealed how manager Garry Monk has gone about imbuing the foreign contingent with a sense of local identity.

‘One of the first things Garry did after replacing Michael Laudrup was to bring a pile of DVDs in and hand them out,’ he said. ‘It was the BBC documentary The Fall and Rise of Swansea City, and he told each and every one of us to watch it that night.

‘We chatted about it the next day and you could tell there wasn’t one person who hadn’t watched it right through. The manager wanted us all to appreciate how much Swansea City meant to people who have been through the rough times and seen the club almost go to the wall.

The boss: Davies revealed manager Garry Monk has gone about imbuing the foreign contingent at Swansea

Proud of his roots: Local lad Davies says he ill be devastating if Swansea are relegated at the end of the season

‘You wouldn’t know it now, looking at the fantastic facilities, but even in my time coming through the ranks, the Under 18s had to train on the beach. There was nowhere else.

‘Anyway, it had an immediate effect because we put in a fantastic performance to beat Cardiff in the next game. We are still in a scrap, no mistake, but I do think we’ve shown more resilience and spirit since then.

‘We’ve just got to stay up. I’ll be absolutely devastated if we don’t. I’m from down the road at Neath and so proud of my Welsh roots. All my family, right through to grandparents on both sides, speak Welsh, and so do I. It was how I was brought up and it just seemed natural to speak English and Welsh fluently. Even at school, junior and secondary, all lessons were in Welsh.

‘If the club need to do an interview for the Welsh-speaking media, it’s always me. But I’m happy with that because the language seems to be dwindling and I’ll do anything I can to keep it to the fore.’



Patriotic: Davies is happy to do Welsh-speaking interviews and will do anything to stop the language dwindling

Davies was thrown in at the deep end after a serious injury to Neil Taylor but has thrived to such an extent that he has already played well over 60 games since his debut against West Ham in August 2012. Yet it could have been the oval ball that shot him to prominence.

‘My dad is rugby through and through and took me to watch Neath when I was little,’ he said. ‘I played outside half at school and we reached the Wales Cup final two years running. Three professionals came out of that team and went on to play for Ospreys, so we weren’t bad.

‘My dad grew up watching Barry John and Phil Bennett, so I think he liked the idea of me wearing the No 10 jersey. I had a decent rugby brain but I’m not sure I would have made a professional.

Rugby mad: Davies' Dad used to take Ben to see Neath and grew up watching Barry John (right)

‘To be fair to Dad, he wanted me to do what I was best at and what I wanted to do, and that was football. Both my parents have been 100 per cent the biggest influence on my development. They taught me good values and are still there for me with advice and help.

‘That was so important when I was trying to make my way as a junior with Swansea. I saw so many lads come and go at the academy who were good players but got caught up in distractions like going out for a drink. I was always dedicated and focused because football was all I ever wanted to do.

‘We trained twice a week and played on a Sunday. For me, it was never a problem staying in on Saturday night and getting to bed early. I wanted to be at my best the next morning.

‘I hope that doesn’t make me sound too boring because I’m not really. I’m off to Ibiza with a couple of mates in the summer, a real lads’ holiday. I like a beer as much as the next guy. It’s just a question of choosing the right moment, and this summer will be, if we stay up.’