Report: Spurs interested in 20-year old Schalke defender Ozan Kabak

It’s apparently Young Center Back Transfer Rumor Day at Cartilage Free Captain. We’ve gotten one credible source that Spurs are negotiating for young Korean monster Kim Min-Jae, and now a Turkish sports reporter is hinting that Spurs are also kicking the tires on Schalke’s Ozan Kabak.

Run that through the Google machine and you get: “After Çağlar Söyüncü, we can see Ozan Kabak in the Premier League. Tottenham continues talks with Schalke 04 about Ozan’s transfer.”

Kabak is only 20, but already is a regular starter in the back line this past season, scoring three goals in all competitions for a pretty bad Schalke side. Schalke may have some issues, but Kabak’s stats are pretty good for a young player and he’s earning a lot of praise for his play this season. Originally a January 2019 for Stuttgart from Galatasaray, Schalke thought so highly of him that they activated his release clause and signed him in June.

Now he’s being linked with another move to the Premier League, this time with Spurs. However, this report feels a little more stalking-horsey than the links with Kim Min-Jae. Turkish media sources... don’t have the best of reputations to put it mildly, and while I can absolutely believe that Spurs are interested in this kid, I can also believe that he’s being used by an agent for a new contract or a bigger move.

Make no mistake, he looks like a hugely talented prospect. With Jan Vertonghen and (probably) Juan Foyth leaving this summer, bringing in two exciting young defensive talents would make sense, and Kabak looks like the real deal. Schalke signed him for £13m last June and reports are saying they’d consider an offer of €25m.

IDK. In normal circumstances that’s a good price and it’d probably be worth the cost, but I’m still skeptical that this is a thing. We’ll track it for now. It’d be an exciting signing, but keep your powder dry for now.