Liverpool have confirmed the signing of Ben Davies from Preston North End, while centre-back Ozan Kabak is set to follow the Englishman to Anfield from Schalke.
Davies underwent a medical on Monday before signing for an initial fee believed to be in the region of £500,000, plus structured add-ons.
Davies said: “It’s a huge opportunity. Obviously it came as a bit of a surprise when it first came but once you start to get your head around it, the opportunity that is in front of me is incredible. I’d be silly to not make the most of it and learn off the players [at the club].
“I’ve never actually been to Anfield and I haven’t had a look around yet. I had a quick look out and had a look at the pitch and it looks like carpet, which obviously you’d expect.
“I haven’t actually walked out of the tunnel yet, so I’m looking forward to that. Just to be in this kind of atmosphere is brilliant.”
Kabak, meanwhile, is believed to have agreed an initial £1million loan fee to join the Reds with the club given the option to buy for £18m at the end of the season.
Arsenal and Manchester United were both keen on signing Kabak back in 2019, with Tottenham also maintaining a tentative interest in his services.
Bayern Munich were also following the progress of the defender, but in the end he joined Schalke that summer six months after leaving Galatasaray in his homeland for Stuttgart.
Things haven’t gone well for Schalke, but despite their difficulties Kabak has remained a prospect top clubs have kept an eye on.
Preston, meanwhile, will benefit from a 20 per cent sell-on clause on any profit Liverpool make on any further transfer of Davies and also any England appearance.
They have also brought in Liverpool defender Sepp Van Den Berg on loan for the rest of the season.
On Friday, manager Klopp said no club would sell him an £80m centre-back even if one was available and clubs, well aware of the Reds’ problems at the back, were quoting ‘crazy money’ for players.
Liverpool’s resources in central defence have been stretched to the limit with Virgil Van Dijk and Joe Gomez unlikely to play again this season due to serious knee injuries, while the injury-plagued Joel Matip was sidelined on Thursday by an ankle ligament problem which the club are yet to diagnosis the extent of.
Fabinho, who has stood in at the back for the majority of matches this season, will not return until Sunday’s visit of Manchester City and so fellow midfielder Jordan Henderson has had to fill in for the last four league matches.
Davies, a left-footed centre-back, was in the final six months of his contract and it had been expected he would sign a pre-agreement with Celtic to join them in the summer.
However, it emerged the reigning Scottish champions, currently 23 points behind Rangers at the top of the table, were planning to make a deadline-day offer to Preston and that prompted Liverpool to make their move.
Fellow Premier League sides Burnley and Sheffield United were also interested but Preston did not want to sell to their local rivals, and it is understood the player was not interested in either club due to their style of football.