Liverpool set for £18 million defensive reinforcement

Liverpool have reportedly already decided to make their loan for Schalke defender Ozan Kabak permanent, with the club deciding to trigger their £18 million option to buy for the Turkish centre back.

90min.com reports that manager Jurgen Klopp has been impressed with the 21-year-olds development, stringing together a decent run of recent performances alongside Nat Phillips, after getting off to a shaky start.

Kabak had put himself on the radar of scouts all across Europe after bursting onto the scene aged just 18 with Stuttgart, but after a solid start to life under David Wagner at Schalke, he became part of one of the Bundesliga’s worst-ever sides.

Liverpool decided to act with the defender’s stock at a low, bringing him in during the January transfer window following the debilitating injuries to Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez.

Perhaps nervous about Kabak’s Schalke form continuing at Anfield, Liverpool managed to negotiate an £18 million option to buy, rather than obligation, and now look set to trigger that, adding to his £1.5 million loan fee.

Kabak has featured nine times for Liverpool, playing the 90 minutes on seven occasions, helping his side keep five clean sheets.