Schalke boss Christian Gross has detailed why Ozan Kabak was allowed to leave for Liverpool.

Gross has revealed that Kabak was used as bait to free up the German club to land Shkodran Mustafi from Arsenal to bolster their struggling defence. The Swiss also admits former Liverpool fullback Philipp Degen, now an agent, was key in the deal.

“He (Degen) is super networked in football," Gross explained to Blick.

“Without him, 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."