Ozan Kabak completed his move to Liverpool from Schalke 04 yesterday after arriving in England.
Kabak gave his first interview as a Reds player on his first day at the club.
READ: ‘He can help us’ – Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp reacts to Ozan Kabak transfer
The 20-year-old defender revealed that he has joined his footballing ‘idol’ Virgil van Dijk at the Premier League outfit.
Kabak was full of praise for Van Dijk.
“Virgil van Dijk is, I think, the best centre-back in the world at the moment. The last three or four years he was always on his best performance. He’s strong, he’s good, he’s so fast, he’s clever. So that’s why I see him as an idol. I want to meet with him as soon as possible, to be honest,” Kabak said in an interview published on the official Liverpool website.
Kabak also revealed the story behind the Van Dijk shirt he shared back when he was aged 18 at Galatasaray.
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It turns out that his former teammate Omer Bayram who was a childhood friend of van Dijk got him the shirt.
“So I had a friend in Galatasaray, Omer Bayram – he’s a childhood friend with Virgil van Dijk from Holland. So I was talking with him and I said something about Virgil van Dijk, he’s very good and I like him. He said, ‘He’s my childhood friend.’ I couldn’t believe it. Then the day after he brought his jersey to me and I was so happy. I put this jersey on my wall in my house. That’s the story,” he added.
Kabak will wear the No 19 shirt at Liverpool this season.
The 1.86m tall centre-back will become the first Turkey international to play for the Reds.
He joins Liverpool on loan until the end of the season, the Reds do not have an obligation to buy as was previously reported.
The Times report that Liverpool do have an £18m option to make the transfer permanent at the end of the season.
Giving the Reds boss Jurgen Klopp the option to work with Kabak before deciding to keep him on at Anfield.
