Transfer deadline day 2021: Liverpool battle clock to complete Ozan Kabak move – report
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Updated 01/02/2021 at 22:13 GMT
Liverpool need a new defender, or two, that is no secret to anyone. Ben Davies from Preston North End is on the way already but who will be the second? A new report from Sky Sports suggests that it will be Schalke defender Ozan Kabak. He was initially a target in the summer but now might make the switch to Anfield.
Ozan Kabak - FC Schalke 04
Image credit: Imago
Premier League champions Liverpool have turned their attention to Schalke’s Ozan Kabak as they look to strengthen their defensive options in January.
Liverpool have seen Joe Gomez and Joel Matip join Virgil van Dijk on the treatment table and the club are expected to bring in new options on deadline day.
Preston North End’s Ben Davies is expected to join and the Reds were also initially linked to Duje Caleta-Car from Marseille.
However the French side are unable to get a replacement in so Liverpool are now pushing to bring Kabak in.
The 20-year-old was a target of the Reds in the summer and they will look to bring him in on an initial loan according to a report from Sky Sports.
The report adds the initial fee will be around £2.5 million with an option to buy in the summer. Schalke bought him in 2019 for around £13 million.
Like Marseille, Schalke will only let their player leave if they can get a replacement in.
Schalke reportedly know who they want to bring in but the transfer window in Germany shuts earlier than England, at 5pm, which increases the pressure on the deal.
'Transfer makes sense for Schalke' - View from Germany
Tobias Hlusiak of Eurosport Germany calls Kabak a “calm” defender and adding that although he is a little raw “he has a lot of talent.”
Although Hlusiak doesn’t like to make comparisons, when pushed he says: “I would take a reach here and compare him to a young Mats Hummels, just considering his overall talent level and ability to score from set-pieces. [I am] talking about the year 2009, when Mats was still fast…”
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