Liverpool fight AC Milan for Virgil van Dijk replacement

Liverpool need to fight for Virgil van Dijk’s replacement.

Ever since the Dutchman picked up his season-ending injury against Everton, Jurgen Klopp has been scrambling for solutions.

First it was Fabinho, and despite incredibly encouraging signs, that experiment was scrapped after the Brazilian endured his own problems with fitness.

Joel Matip has never really been in the picture due to his concerning injury record and that has led to Rhys Williams and Nat Phillips making appearances this season.

Wisdom suggests Klopp and sporting director Michael Edwards will turn towards the transfer market in January to sign someone who can replace van Dijk now and provide an option next season.

They’re going to have to fight for one of their targets, though, as AC Milan are showing an interesting in strengthening their squad this winter.

La Gazzetta dello Sport has reported that Milan will slug it out with Liverpool for the signing of Schalke defender Ozan Kabak – a name many fans will be familiar with.

The 20-year-old has developed into one of Europe’s sought-after men following encouraging performances in the Bundesliga and S04’s financial problems.

With four caps for Turkey and 46 appearances in the German top flight, Kabak is still raw but he’s got some highly encouraging attributes that Liverpool will like.

He’d fit the model of someone Edwards would sign, and a young player is more likely to be willing to learn from Klopp and the coaching staff while he waits for a chance rather than demanding an instant route to the first team.

With the fitness record of Joe Gomez and Matip, Kabak would never have to wait very long – as Williams and Phillips can attest to.

There are going to be plenty of articles linking Liverpool with names across Europe, but this is move that would make sense.