Liverpool Sign Two Defenders On Deadline Day

Liverpool have completed a loan deal for Schalke's Turkey central defender Ozan Kabak.

The 20-year-old joins the Reds until the end of the season, with the club also having signed Preston North End's Ben Davies for £2m.

Defender Davies, 25, has signed a "long-term" deal at Anfield.

Marseille's Duje Caleta-Car was also a potential target, with the Reds exploring a number of options in defence because of injuries.

Liverpool have an option to buy Kabak for £18m - with add-on clauses - at the end of the season, but do not need to activate it until June.

For now, they will pay a £1m loan fee now with the potential for an extra £500,000 based on games played and how they fare in the Champions League.

The Reds are missing experienced centre-backs, with Joel Matip out for the rest of the season and Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez out with long-term injuries, while midfielder Fabinho, who has been standing in at the back, is also out.

Manager Jurgen Klopp named his 12th different centre-half partnership in 21 Premier League games for Sunday's 3-1 win at West Ham, with midfielder Jordan Henderson alongside Nathaniel Phillips.

On the arrival of Davies from Championship side Preston, Klopp said: "It's probably clear that in a normal transfer window, without any issues, we would not look at Preston [to see] if there's a player for us or something like that.

"Since our situation got clearer and clearer - the problems we had - when we saw him we got really excited about it and thought: 'Wow.'

"We see the quality and we see the potential as well because he's 25 and there's a lot to come for him." (BBC)