Arne Slot is set to give opportunities to Sepp van den Berg in the pre-season after Liverpool turned down two bids
According to James Pearce of the Athletic, Liverpool have turned down offers from German sides Mainz and Wolfsburg for defender Sepp van den Berg.
Sepp van den Berg has not played for Liverpool since February 2020. The defender has spent loan spells at Preston, Schalke and Mainz in recent seasons. He enjoyed an impressive 2023/24 season with Mainz, making 33 Bundesliga appearances and scoring three goals.
After a strong season in the Bundesliga, the Dutchman has expressed a desire to leave Liverpool. However, the arrival of Arne Slot as head coach earlier this summer may have changed his plans. As per James Pearce, Arne Slot is expected to give Van de Berg opportunities in the upcoming pre-season tour before taking a final decision on his future.
There are plenty of suitors for the 22-year-old defender, including Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven, and Slot may well have a decision to make on his future before the new campaign begins. Liverpool value Van den Berg at around €20 million, and as of today no club has come close to meeting the defender’s valuation.
Van de Berg, who has two years remaining on his contract (Transfermarkt), will be raring to prove himself in the pre-season tour to convince Slot he has a future in the red half of Merseyside, despite voicing his plans to leave the club for greener pastures.
Liverpool are seeking a new centre-back following the exit of Joel Matip, who was released upon the expiry of his contract at the end of June. In Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Ibrahima Konate and Jarell Quansah, there is quality in the centre-back position. What the Merseysiders lack is depth in that position, and after they fell away from the title race during the business end of the 2023/24 campaign, the club’s chiefs cannot afford to make the same mistake and must add sufficiently to the squad.
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This could give Van de Berg a glimmer of hope to break into the team under Slot. As Liverpool are currently without Van Dijk, Gomez and Konate due to their involvement at the Euro 2024, the Netherlands under-21 international has a great opportunity to prove himself in the pre-season tour and subsequently prolong his stay at the club.
Slot will also have a role to play in this, as the new Liverpool gaffer decides to keep the 22-year-old in his ranks or try and use a potential fee to invest into a new centre-half.
