Official: Liverpool make Ozan Kabak their second deadline day signing

Nicholas Hughes

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:45 CDT
• 2 min read

Liverpool have confirmed the arrival of Ozan Kabak from Schalke on an initial loan deal with view to making the move permanent in the summer.

The deal hinged on Schalke finding a replacement for him, with Shkodran Mustafi joining the club from Arsenal.

The Reds had been chasing a centre-back as the January transfer window drew to a close and have ended up securing two, with Kabak joining Ben Davies who signed from Preston earlier on Monday.

Kabak completed his medical in Germany before finalising the details of the move, one that Liverpool had been seeking as far back as the summer.

The 20-year-old has been a consistent feature in Schalke’s season despite their struggles leaving them stuck on the bottom of the Bundesliga table.

A seven-times capped Turkish international, Kabak will join as both a solution to Liverpool’s injury crisis but also as a long-term option at centre half.

Liverpool have been laid bare at centre back since Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez both suffered long term injuries, but it was an ankle injury to Joel Matip in last week’s win over Tottenham that ultimately forced the club’s hand in the transfer market.

Will Ozan Kabak be Liverpool’s answer?

The Cameroonian has proven consistently unreliable and the introduction of Davies and Kabak will provide a boost to their depth at the back and look to ensure midfielders Fabinho and Jordan Henderson can return to their natural positions.

Kabak has played 14 times in the Bundesliga this season in his second campaign with Schalke having arrived from Stuttgart in 2019.

He had only spent six months at Stuttgart after leaving boyhood club Galatasaray in January of the same year, which was his first season of senior football.

He also made his Champions League debut in that season, a competition in which he could be asked to feature for Liverpool as they face RB Leipzig in the round of 16.

Kabak will soon join his teammates at Kirkby and look to make an impact as quickly as possible as Liverpool approach a busy yet important period of fixtures in the Premier League and in Europe.

Liverpool were tipped to the signing by Jurgen Klopp’s friend and former Schalke head coach David Wagner.

“Yes, Dave was already very, very positive about him,” Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com. “He came very young to Germany and everybody was clear he was a massive talent.

“He is only 20 now. He plays in his second club [in Germany]; he is at Schalke and unfortunately they are in a bad position in the moment. For him, I think it’s a really good moment to make the move because, like each player in the world, you need a stable team around you and that’s what we can deliver.

“We deliver a stable team and you can play your position, you don’t have to be 20 with pretty much everything on the pitch and not allowed to make mistakes anymore.

“He’s really a big, big talent and we are really looking forward to working with him.”