Liverpool: Rather a sad and abrupt ending to Ozan Kabak at Anfield

Liverpool are said to have made the decision not to trigger Ozan Kabak’s option to buy for £18m and the player will return to Germany and seek other avenues out of Schalke.

Monday’s news that Liverpool are a payment away from completing their long-standing deal for RB Leipzig defender, Ibrahima Konate, has left them no other choice but to end Ozan Kabak’s time at Anfield.

This season’s third-placed team had the option to make the Turkish centre-backs stay a permanent one but have decided against it with the thought they would have five first-team centre-backs in Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Joel Matip, soon to be a Liverpool player, Konate and Kabak included for next season’s run.

Following the premature ending to his Merseyside career, the stand-in centre-back has already commenced talks with other potential new suitors. With Schalke getting relegated, a move is the only option Ozan is considering, as is the club who need to balance the books due to a financial mess.

All English Premier League

"The defender also recently stated his desire to remain at Anfield and build on that success, telling the Times: “It’s Liverpool. Of course I want to stay.”However, This Is Anfield understands that Kabak has been told by Liverpool that they will not be exercising the permanent option in his loan deal.The 21-year-old has consequently begun discussions with other clubs as he seeks a route out of relegated Schalke, who are desperate to sell in order to ease their financial concerns. (Via: thisisanfield.com)"

Ozan Kabak was brought in by Liverpool at a time of crisis

There was a time Liverpool did not have a senior centre-back and needed reinforcements to save a frustrating campaign. Ironically, the team ended the last five games with their youngest centre-back partnership, Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams – the duo were standout figures for Jurgen Klopp in the closing games.

Since Ozan’s first game against Leicester City, the player made 13 appearances across all competitions. In his 13 outings, they have conceded 11 goals while keeping a clean sheet 6 times.

With this, they won six games, drew three and lost four. He helped Liverpool to 21 points in their late push for Champions League football. Sadly for the Turk, he never got to enjoy the last five games due to injury and missed the opportunity to play in front of an Anfield crowd.

His six clean sheets and 21 points involvement simply wasn’t good enough for Liverpool and the late form of young pairing, Phillips and Williams, probably aided in the Reds decision to not make Ozan Kabak’s stay a permanent one.