Whilst Liverpool have done well to patch up their leaky defence with young fringe players, a more permanent solution still needs to be considered. Rhys Williams and Nat Phillips have done a good job of stepping up to the plate, but in order to keep title chances alive, the Reds can't be too cautious.

A few names have cropped up on the radar, including Chelsea's Antonio Rudiger and major money target Kalidou Koulibaly. But one man who is looking like a strong January contender is Ozan Kabak of Schalke.

Jochen Schneider, the club's sporting director has handed the Premier League champions a potential boost in their interest. Speaking to WAZ (via Sport Witness), he said: "We are still in economically challenging times, which you can see from the fact that this season may have to be played to the end without any spectators. I cannot and do not want to rule out anything."

Why Liverpool should move for Kabak

The current financial climate has hit a lot of clubs hard. Many summer deals fell through due to the lack of funds and clubs, including Schalke, are now being forced to sell some of their best players in order to balance their books.

The Mirror recently reported that Schalke's initial asking price of £40million has been slashed. Liverpool are currently working on paying an initial £20million for Kabak with some further payments to be owed in add-ons. Should Michael Edwards negotiate this kind of deal, it will work extremely well for the Reds.

Frugal Fenway Sports Group will be keen to sign off on a smaller fee like this and they could encourage the club to move for the centre-back.

The Turkey international made a total of 26 Bundesliga appearances last season and contributed five clean sheets and three goals (via Transfermarkt). Whilst his defensive presence can be improved, he will benefit from playing alongside Joe Gomez, who has looked solid since the absence of Virgil van Dijk. The Englishman is not much of an attack-minded defender either, which will give Kabak more freedom to contribute to the fun.

He could potentially become full-time partner to van Dijk once he returns from injury, or at least provide competition for the rest of the centre-backs on Klopp's roster.

In other news, Neco Williams put in solid offensive shift in short Atalanta cameo...