Leicester to battle Liverpool for Turkey defender

With Jonny Evans and Wes Morgan’s contracts expiring next summer, Leicester City will be eyeing up replacements for them both and Ozan Kabak may be the man.

Leicester City currently possesses four centre-backs, with Filip Benkovic returning from his loan spell at Bristol City to join Evans, Caglar Soyuncu and Wes Morgan at King Power Stadium.

Brendan Rodgers tried to sign Merih Demiral in January but ended up loaning Ryan Bennett from Wolves in a ‘panic buy’ towards the end of the January transfer window. With Bennett’s performances failing to warrant a permanent move, the Foxes will need to recruit another.

Ozan Kabak is the latest name to be linked with Leicester. The 20-year-old centre-back currently plays for FC Schalke in Germany and has been attracting interest from Liverpool.

The centre-half began his career at Galatasary, where he appeared four times in their 2018/19 campaign, before moving to Stuttgart. However, after only a single season at Die Roten, he transferred to Schalke for an undisclosed fee. Following one solitary appearance for his current club in a year, it looks likely he may be departing this summer.

A move to Leicester would see the Turk team-up with his international team-mate, Caglar Soyuncu. With Evans turning 33 in January, concerns regarding the future at the heart of the defence are growing.

However, they are set to face competition for his signature, with Jurgen Klopp rating the defender highly and viewing him as the replacement to Dejan Lovren. According to reports, it will cost either side £40m, a fee that would break the Foxes record of just over £30m.

Kabak is a right-footed, ball-playing defender who strives in aerial duels and tackling. After playing in the Bundesliga in the previous two seasons for Schalke and Stuttgart, where he made over 40 appearances, the defender‘s potential transfer to England could see him feature for his nation more.

Kabak made his international debut in 2019 alongside Demiral, as Turkey defeated Andorra 2-0. However, only five unused sub appearances have come since then, due to Soyuncu’s notable emergence last season.