Liverpool star Van Dijk’s 2018 gift to Ozan Kabak explained after transfer

Ozan Kabak received a shirt from Virgil van Dijk in 2018 – and it turns out the Liverpool star was keeping close tabs on the club’s new arrival.

The Turkish international’s loan deal from Schalke until the end of the season was confirmed on Deadline Day.

He arrives amid an injury crisis at Anfield which has Van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip out of action in the back line.

While Kabak may not get the chance to share the pitch with the Dutchman, they do have a bit of history from three years ago.

In 2018, when the Turk was with Superlig side Galatasaray, he received a signed shirt from the Reds’ No.4.

Accompanying the famous red kit, Van Dijk wrote with his signature: “To Ozan. All the best”

He received this for Christmas from the Dutchman – and it was all down to a mutual friend.

According to Turkish outlet sporx, Liverpool’s star centre-back enquired about Kabak through then-Galatasaray team-mate Omer Bayram.

Both players were born in the Dutch city of Breda and grew up together, keeping in touch through their careers.

And it saw Van Dijk watch a Champions League game the left-back was on the bench for between Galatasaray and Porto, who the Reds eventually playing the Portuguese side in the quarter-finals that year on the way to European glory.

Despite losing the game 3-2, Kabak put in an impressive performance – enough for the Liverpool star to send a message to him through Bayram.

This then led to the 29-year-old sending one of his signed shirts to the youngster as a Christmas present that same year.

Kabak named the £75m man as his role model earlier this year, saying: “My personal aim is to become a top defender in maybe two or three years, like Virgil van Dijk.

“He's my idol, I really like him. I like his style and how he plays, so I can say he's my football idol.”

With Van Dijk among the injured Liverpool stars, Kabak could get thrown straight into the starting XI.

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