Schalke have withstood a multitude of injuries at the center back position, and, along the way, they’ve unearthed potentially the league’s best player at the position in Ozan Kabak.
Despite rumored interest from Arsenal and heavy interest from AC Milan, Ozan Kabak chose to sign with Schalke this summer for a mere 15 million euros from recently relegated Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart.
It took Kabak months to break into the starting XI, since the Royal Blues had an excellent veteran defensive pairing in Salif Sane and Benjamin Stambouli. But after Stambouli broke a bone in his foot in October, Kabak became a regular starter and became even more important once Sane suffered a severe knee injury.
Kabak is Kicker’s fifth highest rated player in the Bundesliga so far this season, with well-known center backs Mats Hummels and Matthias Ginter being the only other defenders graded in the top 20. At only 19 years of age, Kabak’s intelligence, discipline, and range of passing are stunning, and he is even a threat to score goals of his own.
Powerhouse clubs around Europe will surely be looking to sign Kabak in a couple of years – if not sooner – and when they do start knocking on Schalke’s door, they may have the option of matching a modest release clause.
According to a report from BILD, via BuLiNews.com’s Laura Brandt, Kabak has a release clause of 45 million euros in his contract that will be activated after the 2020-2021 season. So the good news is that the Royal Blues are guaranteed at least one full season of Kabak.
By then, perhaps the club will be able to rework the contract and give Kabak a raise with a higher release clause to ward off interest or secure more money for a center back who is clearly on a trajectory to be worth double that amount of money. (Noting that Lucas Hernandez went for a record 80 million euros to Bayern Munich last summer.)
Kabak is a gem of a player, and he, Amine Harit, and Suat Serdar have become a real long-term building blocks for Die Knappen. Hopefully he’ll stay in Gelsenkirchen for more years to come.