Liverpool have opened talks with Bundesliga side Schalke to sign defender Ozan Kabak, according to reports.
Jurgen Klopp’s side are expected to be in the market for a new centre-back this summer window if Dejan Lovren leaves the Premier League champions.
This week, reports emerged that Dejan Lovren is on the verge of signing for Zenit St Petersburg in a deal worth £10.9m.
According to Bild, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has already identified Lovren’s replacement as the Reds are in talks to sign Kabak from Schalke.
The report claims that Liverpool and the Bundesliga club are now in talks over a potential deal this summer.
But Schalke want £31.8m for the 20-year-old central defender, who was signed from Stuttgart in a £13.5m deal just last summer.
Kabak has a release clause in his current contract at Schalke which would allow him to leave the German side next summer for £41m.
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Kabak, who won his first senior cap for his national side Turkey in November last year, is also a huge admirer of Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk.
‘My personal aim is to become a top defender in maybe two or three years, like Virgil van Dijk. He’s my idol, I really like him,’ the 20-year-old said this campaign.
‘I like his style and how he plays, so I can say he’s my football idol’
