Liverpool defender hits out at club for ‘getting in the way of his future’ with £20m asking price – Liverpool FC

Liverpool defender Sepp van den Berg has spoken of how he thinks the club “didn’t radiate confidence in me all this time” and may be “concerned” about his future.

Loan spells at Preston, Schalke and Mainz have meant that Van den Berg has not played for Liverpool since February 2020, against Shrewsbury in the FA Cup.

After an impressive season at Jurgen Klopp’s old club Mainz, the 22-year-old now wants to decide his own career path, possibly away from Liverpool despite fellow Dutchman Arne Slott arriving at Anfield.

This is Anfield understands Liverpool value him at £20m with interest from Brentford and Southampton.

Van den Berg said about that price The Telegraph that Liverpool “didn’t exude confidence in him” but “still want to interfere” with his future.

As a 17-year-old, Liverpool signed Van den Berg from PEC Zwolle and kept him at the club for a year, training with the formidable Champions League and Premier League winners the Reds.

That was to be his only full season at the club, however, before he personally sought out loans to get game time.

The centre-back explained: “I knew for sure that I couldn’t break into the Liverpool first team from PEC Zwolle. I could have spent another year or two at Liverpool, but I really wanted to play.

“I asked to be loaned out. Every time, because I felt that I was getting better and better. I’ve made great strides physically as well.”

Van den Berg even recalled how Jordan Henderson and James Milner both thought he was ‘ready’ for the first team.

“I also felt ‘ready’. I had a good chat with the manager; he said he got good reports,” Van den Berg said.

“I certainly understood that I wasn’t going to replace Van Dijk, Matip or Konate, but I thought I could get behind them immediately.

“When I didn’t get the chance again, I said ‘Fix it, I want to go again’.”

Report from The Telegraph claims that “Dutch top clubs have him on their radar” and “the chance of him reporting to Arne Slott any time soon is slim.”

It seems strange that he wouldn’t wait to see if he has the new manager’s affection, but after three fairly successful loan spells, it’s fair enough that he wants a permanent move.