Liverpool May Sign AC Milan’s $35M Target Defender As Cover For Injured Van Dijk: Report

Liverpool FC reportedly are chasing Schalke 04’s Ozan Kabak as a cover for injured defender Virgil van Dijk in the ongoing 2020-21 season.

Schalke O4 has labeled the 20-year-old Kabak, who is also a target of AC Milan, at a fee of $35 million, as reported by Sports Witness via Italian media outlet Sports Media Set.

Having moved from VfB Stuttgart to Schalke in the summer of 2019, the Turkish center-back has made 30 appearances for the latter German club, including two matches in 2020-21.

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool recently suffered a major blow when van Dijk – who had been a vital cog of the side since his arrival at Anfield in 2018 – sustained an ACL injury during the Merseyside Derby last week. Even though Liverpool have not mentioned how long the Dutchman will be sidelined, it is feared that van Dijk could be out for the remainder of the season.

Ahead of Liverpool’s 2020-21 Champions League opener against Ajax, Klopp termed van Dijk as the best defender in the world, while he said,” Liverpool would be like "a good wife waiting when the husband is in jail," referring to van Dijk’s likely long injury layoff.

"He will be out for a pretty long time and that’s what the situation is. We don’t want to set any timeframe, to be honest, because each player is different and these possible time frames are always for the x, y, z player (but) Virgil is Virgil and we don’t want to set any time frame. We are there for him, he knows that and we will wait for him like a good wife is waiting when the husband is in jail and will do, meanwhile, all that we can do to make it as easy for him as possible," Klopp had said in an interview with Liverpool’s official website.

The 29-year-old van Dijk had a major role to play in Liverpool’s victories in the Champions League and their first league title in 30 years. The Netherlands national, who moved from Southampton to Liverpool at a fee of $98 million, has made 130 competitive appearances for Klopp’s side, across all tournaments.