Schalke's Kabak joins Liverpool on loan with reported £18M buy option

With only a few hours remaining in the transfer window, Liverpool further reinforced their decimated backline Monday with the signing of 20-year-old center-back Ozan Kabak from German strugglers Schalke.

Kabak joins Liverpool on loan until the end of the season.

Liverpool can make the deal permanent in the summer for an additional £18 million plus add-ons, The Athletic's James Pearce and David Ornstein report.

Earlier in the day, Jurgen Klopp's side signed 25-year-old defender Ben Davies from Championship outfit Preston North End. Davies and Kabak - who had been linked with a move to Anfield for several months - arrive as low-risk, cost-effective solutions to Liverpool's long-standing defensive issues.

The deals take on even greater significance with the news that Joel Matip, one of Klopp's last recognized center-backs, will miss the remainder of the season with ankle ligament damage. Both Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez are out long term with serious knee injuries, and midfielder Fabinho, who's deputized in defense alongside club captain Jordan Henderson, also struggled recently with a minor muscle issue.

Kabak and Davies will now offer Klopp immediate assistance in a position of desperate need.

Kabak has been one of Schalke's only adequate performers in a disastrous season that's seen them slide to last in the Bundesliga. Meanwhile, Davies was reportedly close to joining Scottish giants Celtic before jumping at the chance to play for Liverpool.

Former Schalke coach David Wagner, who's a close friend of Klopp, personally recommended Kabak to the Liverpool manager.

"He is only 20 now," Klopp said in a statement. "He plays in his second club (in Germany); he is at Schalke and unfortunately they are in a bad position in the moment. For him, I think it's a really good moment to make the move because, like each player in the world, you need a stable team around you and that's what we can deliver.

"We deliver a stable team and you can play your position, you don't have to be 20 with pretty much everything on the pitch and not allowed to make mistakes anymore.

"He's really a big, big talent and we are really looking forward to working with him."

Standing 6-foot-1, Kabak is strong in the air and a physical presence, and he's also keen to dribble into space. He previously played for Galatasaray and Stuttgart.

Klopp was initially doubtful about Liverpool's chances of signing a new center-back. On Jan. 7, he told reporters that any transfer activity was "unlikely" due to the current economic climate. But the injury to Matip, which occurred in last week's win over Tottenham Hotspur, forced the club to take action.