In dire need of a centre-back on transfer deadline day, Liverpool decided bringing two in was the right call.
They first signed Ben Davies from Preston North End before bringing in Ozan Kabak on loan from Schalke 04 until the end of the campaign with an option to buy him set at £18m.
His first couple of performances have ranged from clumsy to solid, and it’s too early to tell whether or not the 20-year-old has a future at Anfield.
Schalke, on the other hand, are very much hoping he does.
The once Champions League playing Bundesliga side are currently in dire straits, sitting rock bottom of the league with nine points from 21 games, and with the 15th currently nine points away, relegation is almost all but certain.
Players such as Nabil Bentaleb, Alessandro Schöpf, Timo Becker, Steven Skrzybski, Shkodran Mustafi and Michael Langer all have contracts expiring at the end of the season, while loanees like Dead Kolasinac, Kilian Ludewig and Gonçalo Paciência all have uncertain futures.
Then there’s Ozan Kabak, Weston McKennie and Rabbi Matondo, all out on loan elsewhere, and Schalke ‘are hoping that the lucrative purchase options will be triggered’.
If that was the case, the German side would be looking at a windfall of around €40m or so, which could go a long way in rebuilding the squad.
Basically, Schalke are in a mess, and they’re hoping Liverpool can help them out a bit by buying their centre-back.
