On Thursday Liverpool announced the signing of Sepp van den Berg from PEC Zwolle.
They managed to beat Bayern Munich to the 17 year old’s signature, something which has impressed the Dutch media. De Telegraaf on Wednesday explained that it shows the Reds are now very much in Europe’s elite when it comes to battling for transfers.
Voetbal International report a potential exit had been in the works for months.
In the team for the first half of last season, the youngster then found himself largely out of the picture. Jaap Stam rated the young defender, but was worried about lapses of concentration and didn’t feel he was ready.
Nevertheless, they tried to extend his contract beyond June 2020, and when they couldn’t come to an agreement, with playing time an issue, they had to decide whether to sell or to keep a player, who may have then lacked motivation, for a year before seeing him go for free.
VI say that clubs such as Liverpool and Bayern appearing for the signing ‘raised eyebrows’: ‘If Van den Berg were that good, then surely Stam would have given him more playing minutes last season. Is this a big gamble or does Van den Berg have the potential to reach the top?’
They state it’s uncertain now whether he’ll go on to great heights or slip away, but that Liverpool were prepared to take the gamble so they could potentially save tens of millions on a future deal.
Virgil van Dijk broke the defender transfer fee record, and Matthijs de Ligt is set to break it again, so with prices going up the Premier League side are continuing to look to the future.
VI believe that, in this context, €2m for Van den Berg is a ‘bargain’ and that Liverpool could have ‘gold in their hands’.
Given the player’s desire for games, a loan move may not be a bad idea.
