Ozan Kabak passnotes: Liverpool and Manchester United have been linked with

Highly-rated centre back Ozan Kabak has a special talent: catching the eye in big German teams struggling towards the foot of the Bundesliga table. 

First, it was Stuttgart and now it’s Schalke. However, that means the 20-year-old continues to be linked with a big-money move away to one of Europe’s big-hitters. 

He has already played for three clubs in his short professional career but with Liverpool, Manchester United and RB Leipzig all interested, could a fourth be on the cards next month? Sportsmail takes a look at what Kabak will offer any potential new suitor. 

Ozan Kabak (left) has been linked with a big-money move away from Schalke next year 

The 20-year-old Turkish international has already played for three clubs during his career 

Who is he? 

A full international at the age of just 20, Ozan Kabak is still in the infancy of his professional career but has already built-up quite the reputation. 

The Turk joined Galatasaray as an 11-year-old in 2011, and rose through the ranks at the Istanbul-based club. 

After signing his first professional contract in July 2017 – at the age of 17 – he made his first-team debut in May 2018 but did not hang about for long in his homeland. 

At the beginning of the 2018-19 season, a teenage-Kabak stood out for Galatasaray and the rest of Europe took notice: in January 2019, he was snapped up by VfB Stuttgart for £9.9million. 

But Kabak did not hang about long in south-west Germany, as his team got relegated at the end of the season to Bundesliga 2. 

Kabak came through the youth system at Galatasaray but only made a handful of appearances

He soon moved to Germany but was only at VfB Stuttgart for six months as they got relegated

Despite that, Kabak still impressed, and set a record by scoring twice in a 5-1 win over Hannover 96 – his first goals in professional football and becoming the third-youngest Stuttgart player to ever score twice in a single Bundesliga match. 

He was also named Bundesliga rookie of the season, beating players such as Reiss Nelson and Jadon Sancho to the award.  

As such, he was never going to stay in the German second-division – and Schalke met his £13.6m release clause that summer. 

But, just 18 months into a five-year deal and with Schalke winless at the bottom of the Bundesliga, a fourth transfer looks likely in 2021.  

What are his strengths?     

Standing at 6’1″, Kabak’s most impressive feature has been his ability to match the physicality of most strikers in the Bundesliga despite his relative inexperience. 

Until the summer of 2020, the domineering centre back won 66 per cent of his aerial duels in the Bundesliga, whilst he also possesses a surprising turn of pace when needed at the back. 

Powerful and mature on and off the ball, the Turk himself models his game on Virgil van Dijk and he could well replace the Holland captain should he make a £20m move to Merseyside in January. 

Kabak has shown dominance in the air and is…