Since arriving on loan from Schalke at the end of the January transfer window, things have not exactly gone well for Ozan Kabak at Liverpool.
The Turkish international was brought to Anfield to help ease the club’s defensive plight, with Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip all out injured.
The 20-year-old is known to be a long-term target for Liverpool, having been heavily linked with a move to the club last summer, when the Reds were also looking for defensive cover.
His loan deal from Schalke, which includes a purchase option, was presented as a great one for the club, with it felt he could prove to be a bargain should he establish himself between now and the end of the season.
Things have not gone well so far, though, with a disastrous debut against Leicester followed by another poor showing in the recent defeat to Everton.
His displays have not gone down well and are very much a continuation for Kabak, who was struggling in Germany before his move to Liverpool.
They explain that while he is ‘considered one of the greatest defensive talents in Europe’ wherever he plays, the team is in ‘crisis’ and he ‘attracts disaster.’
This was seen at Schalke, who conceded 44 goals in their first 17 games, although putting it all on the youngster’s shoulders would be ‘presumptuous’.
Indeed, he’s had ‘hymns of praise’ wherever he’s gone, including Stuttgart, where he arrived to help the relegation battle but left with a record of eight defeats and six draws in 17 games.
Schalke followed, but his record there does not make for better reading, him leaving the club with 20 defeats, 12 draws and ten wins in 42 games.
Now he’s at Liverpool, and only three games in, but that has already seen a ‘serious mistake’ against Leicester and a performance against Everton that was described as a ‘nightmare’ by the Liverpool Echo.
Even in the win over RB Leipzig, he was ‘not without uncertainties’.
Of course, this has all been brushed over by Jurgen Klopp, who has been actively praising his signing in the media and backed him consistently.
Bluewin, though, state that in order to stay at Liverpool, he will need to ‘improve significantly’ or hope for ‘more hymns of praise’ if he is to continue the upward trajectory of his career.
