Newcastle fans, look away now. According to the BBC‘s Ian Dennis, the club had a deal in the works to sign Ozan Kabak from Schalke, before Liverpool swooped in and made the player their own.
The 20-year-old Turk, who made a name for himself in the Bundesliga, having initially broken through at Galatasaray, put pen to paper on a loan deal with Liverpool on deadline day, with Jurgen Klopp in dire need of reinforcements in that area of the field.
Kabak will now be embarking on his career with the champions, but things could have turned out a lot differently for the youngster. According to the BBC’s Ian Dennis, he could’ve been heading to St. James’ Park on deadline day instead.
Newcastle United had agreed a deal with the Turkish defender Ozan Kabak before Liverpool nipped in to sign the defender from Schalke. #LFC blew Newcastle out of the water once they registered their interest with a loan deal where they have an option to buy for £18m #NUFC
— Ian Dennis (@Iandennisbbc) February 1, 2021
Steve Bruce will be left disappointed to have missed out on a player who the best side in the country have deemed good enough to feature in their own defence, but you get the feeling, when it came down to it, it was a relatively straightforward decision for Kabak to make.