The deal to take Ozan Kabak to Liverpool from Schalke was initiated by the German club and not the Premier League side, according to Christian Gross.
Kabak arrived at Anfield on a loan deal until the end of the season after two years in the Bundesliga, where he represented Stuttgart before joining Schalke in July 2019.
Liverpool had to pay an initial £1m loan fee, while they included an option to buy for £18m at the end of the season if the Turkey international impresses.
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It was understood that he was part of a long-term strategy by the Anfield hierarchy with his name emerging previously as a target for the Premier League club.
However, now Schalke boss Gross has claimed that it was former Liverpool player Philipp Degen who put the deal in motion by phoning Jurgen Klopp to see if he would be interested in signing Kabak.
“He (Degen) is super networked in football,” Gross told Blick (via Sport Witness).
“Without him, [Shkodran] Mustafi would not have come to us. He came because Philipp called Jürgen Klopp. Because Philipp knew that Liverpool were looking for a central defender.
“And he asked whether Liverpool was interested in Ozan Kabak – so Philipp knew that Schalke could possibly give Kabak to Liverpool – and he could bring Mustafi to Schalke.
“In any case, the changes from Kabak and Mustafi came about thanks to the efforts of Philipp Degen. But we are completely independent of each other financially.”
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